What's different about this spring?

I wrote a post in the past about patience.  Astros fans haven't had to do a lot of ground up rebuilding in the history of the franchise and therefore may not know what to expect.  Now that camp is opening, I want to reflect on seasons past and how I felt about the team entering spring training.

We will start in 1997, because that is as far back as I can remember paying deep attention to Spring Training.  This was the year that we were ready to make the leap.  The Reds had lost their swagger, and it was our division to lose.  That's exactly how we played.  We won the division with a record barely over .500.

2000 was a magical year with the team entering a beautiful new stadium and coming off of three straight division titles.  I wasn't too sure about how the pitching would transfer, but I didn't foresee the tough season that was about to happen.  What we did see was the emergence of Lance Berkman and a young pitcher named Wade Miller.  We also had inflated stats from Richard Hidalgo that he would never come close to again.

In 2004, I was sure we had the rotation and offensive firepower to go deep into the playoffs.  I was not alone in believing that we were one of the better teams in baseball.  That proved itself to be true.

So, what is the point that I am trying to get to?

Let's discuss spring training 2011.  I didn't know anyone who thought that this team was bound for the playoffs, but I did hear many justifications on how this team could be close to .500.  After all, their late season push had them at 73-77 at one point, and that was after the Roy Oswalt and Lance Berkman trades.  Mills was working his magic.

Did you know anyone who was making the case for the 2011 team being close to .500?

I do, and that was me.  Last season I bought into the idea that our starting rotation could carry us to a mark close to .500, but isn't that problem?  We would have been satisfied with that, and Ed Wade likely still has a job.

The full collapse of last year might have been the best thing that could have happened.  Mediocrity is what keeps owners saying that we are just a Bill Hall or a Pedro Feliz away from being competitive.

I enter this spring feeling like this team has no chance at the playoffs or .500, and that is ok.  I would love to see the young Astros rise up and shock the world, but the realist in me says that this will not be the case.

Even with that complete lack of hope of being competitive, I am excited to see growth from our youngsters. I will pay attention to the minors in a way that hasn't been totally necessary since Hunsicker was run off.

We have a camp where every position is theoretically up for grabs, which will make this spring the most interesting spring training in my memory even though we will most likely finish with 90+ losses this season. 

My advice to Astros fans is to not talk yourself into why this team could be around .500.  Wins and losses this season are not as important as the player development that will happen.  You can't pick tomatoes ten seconds after you plant the seeds.

You need patience.