Who's Had the Most Disappointing Season?

[pitchleague]

My wife and I were talking about this topic in the car this morning: Based on pre-season expectations, which team has had the most disappointing season?

 

I'd probably put the Cubs and Mets as a tie for first, as everyone and their grandmother were basically giving each team their respective division titles back in February. The Cubs, however, didn't hit and score runs as expected and their pitching has been just "okay" instead of "awesome." The Mets were beseiged by injuries and pretty much killed their chances. Oh and both teams were plagued by poor play.

 

I'd probably place the Brewers third, only because I'm a homer. I'm sure there is probably another team ahead of them.

 

Where would you rank teams based on their expectations and how things turned out (thus far)?

[Never Outhustled]

The Brewers. The flop of JJ Hardy is still unreal.

 

The Mets injury issues were predictable, because there an old team. The Cubs were expected to take a step back because of there terrible offseason. They've actually overachieved because of the emergence/luck of Randy Wells.

[joepepsi]

Boston has now fallen out of the Wild Card. If they don't make the playoffs you can include them with the Mets and Cubs.

 

Seems like a lot of preseason predictions had the Brewers 3rd or 4th in the division. Their season has been disappointing to me, but probably not from a national perspective.

 

Didn't a lot people think Arizona would make a run for the playoffs? Why does everyone think their young players are so talented?

[crewcrazy]

I think from a win-loss record perspective, the Rays have been a bit disappointing. They're 10 games out in the AL East and only 9 games over .500, but they've had a lot of bad luck when it comes to their pitching...they still score runs in bunches.

 

The Indians finished last year strong even without Sabathia, so I do remember some high hopes for that team, but now they've sold off Victor Martinez and Cliff Lee in some iffy deals and look to be headed towards a Top 5 pick in next year's draft. Oakland, too, had some hopes of possibly contending, but Holliday was streaky and their young pitching never held up.

 

Those are just a few I was able to think of aside from the teams already mentioned.

[Fatter than Joey]

The Mets-- They decided to start their train wreck in April this season instead of August.

[MessiahRp]

JJ Hardy's fall has been pretty epic. Also I don't know who kidnapped Carlos Villaneuva but I want that guy back and not this replacement dude.

 

Rp

[SoCal Brew Crew Fan]

Mets & Cubs for sure. Their outlooks for next year aren't much better given the age of some of their critical players. I'd even add the Reds in there...some people had them as a sleeper in the Central. The Brewers are probably a bigger disappointment to us than they are the national media, although even there they probably thought they were an 85 win team, not a 75 win team.

 

If Boston doesn't make the playoffs that would be a huge disappointment.

[JoeHova]

I'm not sure which team has been the most disappointing but I was really disappointed with the play of JJ, Carlos, and Bill. Too bad they are all having bad seasons, or maybe the Brewers wouldn't be in consideration for most disappointing team.

[WV Brew]

I've got to go with Parra for the Brewers.

[pretendastronaut]

I agree with joepepsi that the Brewers would seem to merit consideration, but that's from an unfair vantage point. Nationally they're doing pretty much what all the predictions expected them to do.

 

I think the biggest disappointment has to be the Cubs, hands down. Not so much for me personally, but overall. A lot of pre-season predictions had them in the series this year, and they looked like they should be able to walk into the playoffs, instead they're playoff hopes are beginning to get shaky as well. Missing the playoffs altogether for them would be a catastrophic result I think.

[Baldkin]

Every preseason prediction I saw had the Cubs winning the division and winning 92+ games.

 

If they miss the playoffs, they will be a huge disappointment. Same with the Red Sox.

[MNBrew]

Given the pre-season hype, as well as the love they got over the winter, at this point I'd have to say the Cubs.

 

And I say that with a huge smile of satisfaction.

 

On the Brewers, I'd say Villanueva among the pitchers and Hardy among position players. Hall was this bad last year and Hart's season-ending slump last year makes this year's production not a complete surprise. Villanueva has said since ST that he hasn't felt right, and for the most part his results corroborate that.

[Ennder]

Cubs and Mets but both teams had huge injury concerns before the season so it was very believable that they would have these problems.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

How about the Indians? The entered the season as clear cut favs for the AL Central, and ended up breaking down the team by the ASB.

[Invader3K]

How about the Blue Jays? I know they weren't necessarily predicted to win the AL East, but they started out hot and then really sputtered down the stretch...and then the constant rumors about their star pitcher getting traded.

 

Other than that, I think you have to go with the Cubs. They made some fairly big moves in the off-season, and even a couple trades during the year...but looking more and more like they will not be able to overtake the Cards. I don't think I can pick the Mets just based on how often they've faltered in recent years, and they still have some good young players to build around. You can't really say that with the Cubbies.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

Cubs and Mets but both teams had huge injury concerns before the season so it was very believable that they would have these problems.

 

yeah, but the Cubs primary injury concerns were Bradley and Harden, both of whom have been relatively healthy.

[joepepsi]

The Twins came within a sudden death playoff game of winning their division last year. They returned with essentially the same roster and as good a chance of any to take the division. Their season is right on par with the Brewers in terms of disappointment.

[Ennder]

yeah, but the Cubs primary injury concerns were Bradley and Harden, both of whom have been relatively healthy.

It was more than just those two. Their injury chart at baseballprospectus had a ton of red. Marmol's usage was a concern, Gregg has had multiple injuries. Zambrano was very likely to be hurt, Soriano has been breaking down physically, Aramis has a pretty long history of injuries. Soto coming off of his first full major league season, D.Lee with his wrist issues etc. The Cubs were an extremely risky team going into the season.

[ilovebeer]

JJ Hardy had the most disappointing season for me. How can one player so young drop off so quick?

[The Heartbreak Yid]

JJ Hardy had the most disappointing season for me. How can one player so young drop off so quick?

 

Geovany Soto says hi.

[Funketown]

I've got to go with the Mets. Granted, they were obviously a highly injury prone team, but they have really been hammered. I guess the same goes for the Cubs, even with the injuries that could be expected from that roster I would have still predicted 85-90 wins.

 

I don't really know if I can call the Brewers' season disappointing yet. PECOTA had them at I think 85 wins just before the season started, and they're still only a few games off that pace. I think the Weeks injury probably cost them 2 wins or so (along with the cost of Lopez), which would put them at 83, then the combo of Bush, Suppan probably cost a game. However, the fact that Gallardo has been healthy all year (I think PECOTA had him at 80 innings, I might be wrong though), so that probably makes up for those things.

 

So, to sum up my rant, I don't think the Brewers can be considered one of the most disappointing teams. They're around .500, and they were expected to be just above .500.

[Invader3K]

JJ Hardy had the most disappointing season for me. How can one player so young drop off so quick?

 

Geovany Soto says hi.

At least Soto has had some injury issues...started the year on the DL, as I recall. What's Hardy's excuse?

[nate82]

JJ Hardy had the most disappointing season for me. How can one player so young drop off so quick?

 

Geovany Soto says hi.

Stephen Drew also would like to say hi. Though he has been starting to pick it up this year. I was expecting big years from both Hardy and Drew, but I still believe they still are two of the top 5 young short stops in the game.

[logan82]

I think the Weeks injury probably cost them 2 wins or so (along with the cost of Lopez), which would put them at 83, then the combo of Bush, Suppan probably cost a game. However, the fact that Gallardo has been healthy all year

 

I don't think Weeks hurt much because Counsell and McGehee have played so well. Parra was probably expected to be in the 4.50 range for ERA. I believe he is more like 6.00 which would be 3 wins over 180 innings. Bush was probaly expected to be in the 4.50-4.75 range and is 5.67 right now. That is about 2 wins oer 180 innings. Looper and Suppan have been probably as expected.

[twobrewers]

How about the Indians? The entered the season as clear cut favs for the AL Central, and ended up breaking down the team by the ASB.

Entering last season the Indian's had Sabathia (former Cy Young), Cliff Lee (Cy Young last year), and Carmona (coming off a great season) in their rotation.

 

They had Hafner, Sizemore, Martinez, Blake, Choo and Peralta forming a potent offense.

 

With all of that talent and expectations heading into the 2008 season - their fall from grace has been EPIC.