I was thinking about the way the season started and how optimistic I was - I know probably a lot of you were as well.
I don't know about you, but that seems like about ten years ago to me right now...
The one thing that struck me most glaringly was that I remember so many season previews, the basic gist of which were if they can actually get thirty starts from Beckett and Burnett - hell, the skies the limit!
These were my two front teeth. You rememeber that song, right? "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" All I wanted for Christmas were healthy seasons from Beck and Burn (Willis was an afterthought). I knew in my heart of hearts that if those guys stayed healthy they would finally mature and get it right. Right?
RIGHT!?!?!
Ugh.
I think to me that this is what the main frustration of the season comes down to. Basically everything that I could have asked for before the season actually came true. Beck and Brun were healthy! Burnett pitched over 200 innings! Beckett got 29 starts! Cabrera and Delgado Mashed the crap out of the ball! We even got some unexpected bonuses - Willis and Jones were not supposed to be THAT good!
Unfortunately - people we just assumed would contribute like Lowell, Pierre and the entire bullpen never showed up. This season was just one big tease.
I had intended to put up some quotes from Marlins season previews in this space, but they all got too depressing (especially when they were basically accurate, even if for the wrong reasons - damn you, Gleeman!). However - in looking around for these things the best thing I found was an amusing March 16th Rob Neyer article listing five players likely to have a serious drop-off in production. I wonder who made the list...