Arizona Diamondbacks: December Confidence poll

November results

A drop from October to November was almost inevitable. After the thrilling excitement which was the wild-card game, the Diamondbacks suffered the hangover to end all hangovers, and were unceremoniously swept from the NLDS by the Dodgers. At the time of our last poll, the hellish prospect of a Los Angeles victory in the World Series was very much alive. Fortunately, that turned out to be deliciously denied, but it seems to have dampened our spirits a bit at the beginning of November.

• 1% - 1 (not confident in the slightest)
• 1% - 2
• 1% - 3
• 1% - 4
• 9% - 5
• 20% - 6
• 38% - 7
• 16% - 8
• 14% - 9 (very, very, VERY confident)

As in the previous poll, it’s at the upper end of the spectrum that we see the drop most clearly. At the beginning of September, more than two out of three people (66.8%) voted an 8 or 9. In October, that dropped to 53.9%. And as of the start of November, it’s down to only 29.7%. How quickly the shine of an unexpectedly good season fades, apparently. The chart below shows the decline, if you look at the size of the green and red stripes on the right, as those 8’s and 9’s have become 6’s and 7’s.

Below, you can see the breakdown of voting for the past year. Time progresses from the top down, beginning with the December 2016 poll.

The net result was a drop in overall confidence to 6.89, a decrease of 0.44 which is almost in line with the 0.51 drop suffered the previous month. It’s the first time since August 2016 we’ve had back-to-back declines. Here’s the chart showing all the average scores, as we come close to completing two years of these surveys.

This month’s poll

The Diamondbacks’ front-office has started the off-season quietly. They traded for Brad Boxberger with Tampa, and yesterday, picked up a pitching prospect on waivers from the Red Sox. Arizona tendered contracts to just about everyone, bar T.J. McFarland and J.J. Hoover, and even there, they re-signed McFarland anyway. There’s been little or no word on any of the team’s free-agents, except for the news that Chris Iannetta will be a Rockie in 2018. So, it appears, the bulk of Mike Hazen’s work is in front of him. Are we beginning to get concerned about the lack of activity?

Here’s the poll. As usual, tell us in the comments what you voted, and why.