Top 5 Biggest Let Downs of 2015

   For the purposes of this blog, a "let down" is a player or team that did not live up to expectations. It is not a heart braking loss in the playoffs. That being said, here are the top 5 biggest let downs of 2015. 

5. John Lester
   When the Cubs decided it was time to win now, they made a lot of big moves. Among those was the most hyped move of the entire winter, the signing of ace John Lester. However, Lester struggled early on, wound up getting out shined by fellow ace, Cy Young Jake Arrieta. All in all, Lester had a pretty good year, helping the Cubs make it to the postseason for the first time since 2009. Still, Lester did not perform to standards, and was a let down.

4. Seattle Mariners
   Take the best lefty-righty 3-4 punch on paper in the game and cross it with a former Cy Young award winner and what do you get? A championship bid, right? RIGHT? Nope, you get one of the bigger let downs of 2015. Robinson Cano was just as abismal as the rest of the Mariners line up, and the bullpen had one of the higher ERA's of the Major Leagues. For a team that was supposed to go to the World Series, finishing in fourth behind a team that was last in baseball for the past four years is a major let down. Thus, the spot on this list.

3. Hanley Ramirez & Pablo Sandoval
   While the Red Sox were never going to win the East with their pitching, their two major offensive signings, Hanley Ramirez and Pablo Sandoval, were supposed to at least somewhat offset the odds. However, Ramirez proved upon entry that it would be unwise to leave him in the field, playing simply terrible defense, and not making up for it with his average hitting. While the other Red Sox signing, Pablo Sandoval, was the opposite. He played average defense, but hit terribly. So bad was Sandoval's hitting that he gave up switch hitting in favor of hitting lefty all of the time. The two guys that were supposed to carry the Sox let them down.

2. San Diego Padres 
   For a team that "won the winter," the Padres must be really disappointed in themselves. They traded for aging former stars that couldn't play defense, screwing up their team in the present and the future. Matt Kemp didn't hit for the first half of the season, and all throughout didn't play defense. Justin Upton was also mediocre, and ace James Shields rode an ERA over four to the end of the year. Will Myers, who was supposed to be center field, proved he couldn't handle it, and was moved to first base. You know you let your fan base down when you were supposed to go to the  World Series and you finish behind the Arizona Diamondbacks.

1. Washington Nationals
   Another team that was supposed to go to the World Series, yet the only thing that worked out for the Nationals was Bryce Harper's surge to star hood. Max Scherzer, the Nats' beg signing, was average, with a bad second half. Jason Werth and Denard Span both got injured, leaving only one man to tend to the Nats' dying offense. Two of the Nationals pitcher' were terrible, Stephen Strasburg and Doug Fister, both of whom were former Cy Young candidates. All in all, no one except for Bryce Harper performed to standard, and the Nationals let down everyone.