Don't you think it's also exacerbated by the (now common) turn-over of players? Just when we get used to 'our' guys, a lot of them are gone. It's easier to be optimistic in the spring if you're dealing w/ familiar faces (doesn't matter really how good they are: Betts, Bradley, Vasquez, even guys like Verdugo). It's really diffficult to maintain 'team loyalty' or even to give a crap about winning when half the guys you've been loyal to are playing for other teams. I suspect this is the case w/ fans of nearly every team in the league.