ST 2011 vs. ST 2012

[BuckMagic]

Let me say that I do think the team is much better this year than last year. My question is:: why was there so much more hype last year and so little this year?

I like what Duquette has done. I am just unsure of why there is so much more negativity this year.

[TuckerBlair89]

I think the negativity is there because no one wants to be let down like they were last season. People thought our young pitching was ready to turn the corner, our offense finally had enough fire power, and that Buck was going to lead us into a decent season for once.

Of course that did not happen, and all the buzz kind of wore off. Then there was the unrealistic expectation that they would sign Prince/Wilson/etc. No buzz was obviously gained there.

I feel the same way as I did last offseason almost. Although I did expect us to at least be a bit more competitive last season.

[ofahn]

I was optimistic last season because I thought the pitching was coming into its own and we had added enough talent to support that pitching. The fact that Lee and Guerrero let us down had less of an impact than the pitching collapsing and MacPhail not adding enough legitimate depth to fill any holes.

This season I feel we have the depth, but two important additions (Chen and Wada) are wild cards so I have no way of assessing how the team will do. Regardless of the record, if we end the season with five solid starters and at least three solid relievers then I'll consider it a good year.

[Zach]

The problem with the depth is that we don't have any names that normally get people excited. The reason to be excited about this organization concerns the future with the prospects and the hopefully development of those pitching prospects everyone was excited about last year. There aren't as many questions going into this spring training which takes some of the mystique out of spring training. The lineup is set and the only question marks for the opening day roster are minor issues.

[osforlife]

I'm not making any predictions. Just gonna wait and see.

[ofahn]

I'm not making any predictions. Just gonna wait and see.

I'll be more willing to predict this season about a week before Opening Day. A lot of questions should be answered by then.

[Matt P]

People were excited last ST because the team was coming off one of the best records in baseball after Buck took over, the young pitchers were pitching well, Matusz looked like a legit TOR starter, and MacPhail upgraded the offense in the off season.

This season nobody has as high expectations for the young pitchers, there were no clear upgrades at any positions, and the team really didn't do anything exciting at all this off season.

[Old Sneakers]

I don't think this team is really all that talented. I do think the added depth makes a huge amount of sense though. I am grateful that at least the team is doing what it said it would do versus signing this name or that and crossing their fingers.

But if you need positives there are a few (sort of)

I don't see any debacle at any position like SS as there was in 2008
I don't see a completely futile rotation like there was in 2009
I can't think of a Garret Atkins type signing as in 2010
We aren't being misled as I think we were regarding Brian Roberts

Yeah, it seems the bar is pretty low. That's Andy McPhail's legacy in Baltimore. Shame isn't it.

[A_K]

I expected Arrieta, Matusz and to a lesser extent Tillman and Britton to become viable MLB starters. The thought of having a rotation built on a core of young, viable MLB starters made me think the team would be good. When those players didn't become young, viable starters, the hopes of becoming a good team dissolved entirely.

This year, there's no excitement because you'd have to be mad to think a rotation built on MLB leftovers and second-rate imports could become the foundation of a solid team. It's easy to imagine them becoming an improvement on the disgrace that was last year's rotation, but keep in mind that last year's expectations were built on the assumption that the pitchers would be better than they ended up being. If we knew every one of the young starters would crater, there wouldn't have been any expectations last year, either.

This year, we're built to be a team with a much lower ceiling, but also a higher floor. But it's hard to get excited about a team that can't reasonably hope to win more than 80 games, even if it also is unlikely to lose more than 75. Sure, it's improvement, but it's largely irrelevant improvement.