It's funny how before 2015, it was constantly yearning for the interest and vibe around the team to be like it was in the early 90s. Then what happened in '15 with the trades and the MVP's and the swing and a drives and the general craziness has trained a lot of people to think that's what the formula is. Everyone's waiting for the 12 game winning streak or the 25-5 run that seemed inevitable. And yes, there certainly would be more angst if the team was barely holding onto a playoff spot heading into the last homestand.
One small silver lining was the fact that maybe the teams inconsistency led the F.O. not to trade the prospect capital they did have for Frankie Montas?
I think there's a general malaise regarding the team this year because our expectations were so high at the beginning of the year and it's turned out to be kind of bland. And yet we are almost 20 games over .500 (same as last year) and 3 of our opening starters have shit the bed in various ways (Berrios, Kikuchi, Ryu) - so given that, how the heck did we do this? Where are the individual performances to get excited about? Manoah for sure...and spurts from others, but overall we've just chugged along without a great deal of excitement.
I hear you about the weirdness of the wild card race. One of the greatest things about baseball is that tension in the last few weeks. Now we're just trying to avoid playing in the Trop! How deflating would it be to make the playoffs and get knocked out without even playing a game at home - what a huge empty experience that would be. I'd rather be fighting for 1st place to be honest - perhaps that's where the real excitement will lie in the future.
The other factor confusing us when we think 'how good should we feel about this team making the playoffs' is that the American League East is going to be sending 3 teams to the playoffs, and could conceivably send 4. If the Rays and the Jays were playing for the last wild card spot, we would feel differently about this week. And I cannot help but be happy for the Baltimore Orioles fans; It's about time they got something worth being excited about.
Good stuff Stoeten.
It's funny how before 2015, it was constantly yearning for the interest and vibe around the team to be like it was in the early 90s. Then what happened in '15 with the trades and the MVP's and the swing and a drives and the general craziness has trained a lot of people to think that's what the formula is. Everyone's waiting for the 12 game winning streak or the 25-5 run that seemed inevitable. And yes, there certainly would be more angst if the team was barely holding onto a playoff spot heading into the last homestand.
One small silver lining was the fact that maybe the teams inconsistency led the F.O. not to trade the prospect capital they did have for Frankie Montas?
Manoah is definitely our team MVP. If he finishes off the year the way he’s going there’s also a strong argument for him to be the AL Cy Young winner.
I think there's a general malaise regarding the team this year because our expectations were so high at the beginning of the year and it's turned out to be kind of bland. And yet we are almost 20 games over .500 (same as last year) and 3 of our opening starters have shit the bed in various ways (Berrios, Kikuchi, Ryu) - so given that, how the heck did we do this? Where are the individual performances to get excited about? Manoah for sure...and spurts from others, but overall we've just chugged along without a great deal of excitement.
I hear you about the weirdness of the wild card race. One of the greatest things about baseball is that tension in the last few weeks. Now we're just trying to avoid playing in the Trop! How deflating would it be to make the playoffs and get knocked out without even playing a game at home - what a huge empty experience that would be. I'd rather be fighting for 1st place to be honest - perhaps that's where the real excitement will lie in the future.
The other factor confusing us when we think 'how good should we feel about this team making the playoffs' is that the American League East is going to be sending 3 teams to the playoffs, and could conceivably send 4. If the Rays and the Jays were playing for the last wild card spot, we would feel differently about this week. And I cannot help but be happy for the Baltimore Orioles fans; It's about time they got something worth being excited about.
Good points, for sure!