Arizona and Kansas City had wildly different expectations entering the 2024 MLB Season. Arizona was returning form a trip to the World Series with a young core and high priced free agents added. They’d retained some talent in Gurriel and bolstered the starting rotation that failed in the playoffs with Eduardo Rodriguez and Jordan Montgomery. Meanwhile, Kansas City similarly added to their rotation with Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha and was expecting to get a full season from 2023 Trade Deadline acquisition Cole Ragans.
Then...the season started and games actually needed to be played. Whereas the little engine that could kept winning games in Missouri (KC is one of those weird cities that straddles two states), the supposedly young juggernaut kept losing them.