CAN we compete? Sure. If The AD and Coach do what it takes to step it up.
WILL we compete? This is Missouri. They're going to have to Show Me they're willing.
Oh . . . and the SEC is not the American League East. If you look at the historical conference RPIs, the SEC is definitely the best baseball conference. But not every year. And not by a huge margin.
In fact, as of today, BoydsWorld.com has the SEC #2 in conference RPI, beaten out by a small margin by the ACC.
http://boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/confrpi.html
Historical conference RPIs:
http://boydsworld.com/baseball/rpi/