Now that the bar has been raised, what’s your definition of a successful season in 2024?

[drdelaware]

World Series Champions.

Would you rather just upgrade slightly and buy a bunch of ALCS hats and shirts at the end of next year that can rot in your closet with the AL East Championship garb you spent money on?

It's time to have the that lofty goal of winning it all.   Anything else now is status quo.

Edited October 12, 2023 by drdelaware

[Can_of_corn]

1 minute ago, drdelaware said:

World Series Champions.

Would you rather just upgrade slightly and buy a bunch of ALCS hats and shirts at the end of next year that can rot in your closet with the AL East Championship garb you spent money on?

It's time to have the that lofty goal of winning it all.   Anything else now is status quo.

So the Braves and Dodgers didn't have a successful season?

I can't agree with the mindset that only one established good team can have a successful season each year.

 

[vab]

Getting to the playoffs is the only definition of a successful season. Once you get to the playoffs it doesn't matter if you went 162-0 or barely scraped in. I think the 1-10 playoff record of the teams with the four best regular season records in baseball this year is inarguable proof of that. 

[Morgan423]

I know I'm probably 1% of the fan base when I say this, but post-season success isn't mandatory (or really even important) to me.  Regular season success over the span of seasons is what I want, and any post-season success is a bonus.

The playoff structure now isn't like it was decades ago, where the best regular season AL and NL teams both won their league pennant and automatically proceeded to the World Series.  The meaning of the post-season has been diluted now as opposed to back then, by the fact that so many teams make it, and any one of those teams (even one squeaking in with a barely-over-500 regular season record) can get lucky/hot at just the right time and win a championship, taking out teams that are much more talented than they are. 

So I find that measuring a team's success solely by a couple of short series each year, where anything can happen, is a fairly silly way of measuring success. 

But get there enough times, by being a consistently elite team over the span of seasons, and you'll eventually win that luck race to the end of the post-season.  And gaining that admission consistently, season after season... that's where it's actually at.

[RZNJ]

I’m good with making the playoffs and continued good results from prospects.  

[maybenxtyr]

23 minutes ago, Pickles said:

We'll have to see what they do, but I think Elias will be more conservative than you would be in regards to trading "veterans."

Frazier and Gibson will be gone.

But I don't see them trading 3-4 guys in addition to that who contributed this year.

Maybe one or two.

I think I can squint hard enough to see a scenario where they try to bring Gibson back for another season.

[tntoriole]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

With a few exceptions, I think most posters feel that 2023 was a very successful season and are pretty satisfied with the result, perhaps even ecstatic.   

But now the bar is raised.  Division title?  Been there, done that.  So what do you think the O’s would need to do next year for you to feel it was a successful season?

1.  Make the playoffs again. 

2.  Win the division title again. 

3.  Win 100+ games again.

4.  Win at least one playoff game.

5.  Win an ALDS series.

6.  Make it to the World Series

7.  Win the World Series

I’m guessing nobody would complain if we won the World Series without winning the AL East or 100+ games.  But are there other combos of 1-6 that you’d be satisfied with next year?   Or is it World Series title or bust?


 

World Series title or bust. 

[Bemorewins]

It’s hard to answer this honestly without seeing how the off-season plays out. And it’s hard to expect a lot of significant acquisitions through trades or FA this offseason, especially considering the relative inactivity this past offseason, combined with this year’s trade deadline where we did not add very much, added with the owner’s comments/actions of the past regarding his feelings paying larger salaries. We literally haven’t done anything of substance on either the trade front or FA acquisitions under JA/Elias.

However, that changes I would expect another playoff birth and a deep postseason run. I don’t think you can ever say World Series or bust, especially in the modern playoff format.

If we approach this offseason and again the deadline like we have done in the recent past, I would say maybe a wild card birth and an early playoff exit. 

My expectations will be shaped by how the offseason goes. I don’t think we can go into next season “as-is” and then realistically expect better results. A lot of things went right for us to win 101 games, including the only major injury to a significant player happening in September once we were already in first place. If Bautista would have gotten injured earlier in the season, it would have changed our season in a significant way IMO. I don’t think it will be wise for us to rely on our bp in the same way that we did this year.

[Frobby]

2 minutes ago, Bemorewins said:

 

My expectations will be shaped by how the offseason goes. I don’t think we can go into next season “as-is” and then realistically expect better results. A lot of things went right for us to win 101 games, including the only major injury to a significant player happening in September once we were already in first place. If Bautista would have gotten injured earlier in the season, it would have changed our season in a significant way IMO. I don’t think it will be wise for us to rely on our bp in the same way that we did this year.

That’s fair, but for me, what the team does in the offseason, and how that plays during the year, will just be part of whether I feel the season was successful.   In other words, I won’t feel better or worse about the season’s outcome based on what is done in the offseason.  I just want a good result. If they fall short because they did nothing to try to build on last year’s success, I will be disappointed.  If they make some moves I like and fall short, I’ll be equally disappointed.  I will say, injuries could have something to say about how I feel about the outcome.  

[StottyByNature]

A successful season would be to again make the playoffs.  I think it would be unrealistic to expect another division title given that our run differential showed we were a little lucky to win 101 games this year.  As stated, all you need in baseball is a chance in the playoffs and hope that you're hot at the right time.  It is much different than football or basketball in this respect.

Having said that, I believe that offseason decisions will also determine success.  (And I don't mean success in terms of results, I mean in terms of trying to address problems on the 2024 roster.). Are we simply going to stand pat on the starting rotation, perhaps ignoring the fact that we had a very healthy 2023?  Are we going to recognize that Cano is likely more of the pitcher he was in the second half than he was in the first and address the bullpen accordingly?  Will the owner put more money into a franchise that is clearly on the upswing?  I think our performance in these areas will define success for me as much as the ultimate win-loss totals.

[emmett16]

Flags fly forever.  Give me anything to fly and I’ll be happy.  AL East or ALCS.  Making the  WS is icing on the cake.  
 

If we snuck in to playoffs and got knocked out right away again, I’d be a pretty disappointed.  
 

If they win the Division and get knocked out, I’d be disappointed but would still consider the season a success.  
 

[Aristotelian]

Making the playoffs and a general sense that the team is better than this year's team. 

[Pickles]

34 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I think I can squint hard enough to see a scenario where they try to bring Gibson back for another season.

I think that is possible, but it would certainly defy my expectations.

[Too Tall]

My thoughts have been said. Play hard, be competitive, make the playoffs and see what happens. If I need to demand a WS every year or else, I'd go be a Yankee Fan and that AIN"T EVER HAPPENING!

[Sports Guy]

1 hour ago, Pickles said:

We'll have to see what they do, but I think Elias will be more conservative than you would be in regards to trading "veterans."

Frazier and Gibson will be gone.

But I don't see them trading 3-4 guys in addition to that who contributed this year.

Maybe one or two.

You don’t know who I would or wouldn’t get rid of and who I would or wouldn’t get rid of depends on a lot of factors.

For example, I’m keeping Mateo if Holliday is kept in AAA and one of Westburg or Ortiz is traded, as they should  be.

Im very likely keeping Mullins, Hays and Urias.  Mullins or Hays could be impacted if they traded for Robert, as an example.