Over the long, winding path of baseball’s 162-game season, expectations and hype can be overshadowed by day-to-day results, small-sample size narratives and early-season headlines. In a league where parity is becoming an operative word, more than half of the majors entered 2014 with hype—either from external or internal forces.
When staring down the 40-man rosters of each team, examining potential contributors on the verge of arriving from the minors and separating the signal from the noise of the early portion of the season, four teams emerge as candidates to fail in the quest to live up to hype.
Over the next six months, each team will have moments of glory and success, but ultimately will fall short of the hype. Most importantly, none will qualify for the 2014 postseason.
Here are the teams that will come short of the hype—real or imagined—surrounding the franchise.
Statistics are from Baseball-Reference.com and FanGraphs unless otherwise noted. All contract figures courtesy of Cot’s Baseball Contracts. Roster projections via MLB Depth Charts.