The only question mark out of the 3 that you listed was Lowell.
Youkilis was going to be better than Millar. Hell, Mo Vaughn at this point in his career would have been better than Millar. I think someone also wanted Buckner to be brought back.
Loretta was expected to hit like this. He's a career .301 hitter coming into this season, and it was definitely expected that he'd hit like it. Graff was great, but Loretta was expected to do better.
Lowell coming off of the worst year of his career was the question mark, however he performed like the all-star 3B like he is in the years previous to his slumping year, and he's always been known for his D. This was the only question mark, IMO.
I don't think those are the greatest examples to use.