What expectations will fans have for the 2024 season?

After their best season in years, one that saw the Orioles win in April and keep it going all year, one that saw them in the playoffs and one that saw them win postseason honors too, what do they do next?

How about keep winning and go deeper in the playoffs next time?

That sounds fair and would be a reasonable expectation for the 2024 season.

You might think, after 101 wins, the Birds had a year when everything broke right. Not exactly.

First, the Tampa Rays got off to a 13-0 start in early May were 29-7. They led the division by six games on the Fourth of July. But the Orioles produced more fireworks from that point on.

The O's had John Means for just four starts and lost Félix Bautista for the last 34 games and the postseason. Grayson Rodriguez had a 7.35 ERA at the end of May. Gunnar Henderson had an OPS of .651 in May. Cedric Mullins went to the injured list twice and was hampered by injuries much of the year. So things did not come close to breaking right. 

And yet the club overcame all this and met every challenge until the American League Division Series.

* The Orioles recorded their sixth season ever in which they've gotten 100 or more wins, and came up with the most victories they've notched in a season since 1980.

* The 2023 Orioles tied the 1971 Birds as the fourth-winningest club in team history. Those two clubs trailed only the O’s teams in 1969 (109 wins), 1970 (108 wins) and 1979 (102 wins).

* The season capped a remarkable rise as the Orioles rose from 52 wins in 2021 to 83 the next year and to 101 in 2023.

* They won the AL East for the first time since the 2014 club won 96 games.

* The Orioles had the best record in the AL for the first time since 1997 and the club secured back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2013-14.

Some things to consider when pondering another season of Orioles baseball.

What else should we consider about the season ahead? Will making the playoffs satisfy the fans? Do they need to win at least one postseason series? Will the team need 100 wins again?  Is it World Series of bust?