(
)
SARASOTA, Fla. — Bring on the expectations, and the pressure. Buck Showalter wants it all.
After 14 straight losing seasons and four straight last-place finishes in the AL East, nobody thought the Orioles would win 93 games last season, win the wild-card game against the Rangers and take the Yankees to the brink in the ALDS, losing in five games by the thinnest of margins.
Showalter and first-year general manager Dan Duquette proved to be a winning odd couple and were rewarded with contract extensions through 2018.
Who knows if the Yankees will even be owned by the Steinbrenner family by then, and who knows who will be managing those Bronx Bombers?
So much success brings much bigger expectations this year.
“I hope so,’’ Showalter told The Post yesterday after the Orioles’ first workout of the spring. “I told our fans at Fanfest, ‘Don’t you stop holding us to a higher standard. We need you not to be satisfied with last year because we’re not going to be.’
“I saw our players in New York after Game 5,’’ Showalter added. “They were [ticked] off.’’
That is so refreshing to hear in an era of mediocrity when teams talk about “hoping’’ to contend. Showalter, the ex-Yankee manager, is not afraid to take on the big teams such as the Yankees with the biggest of payrolls (around $200 million).
“We know who we are, we know who we are not and that is something we needed to get clarified when I got here,’’ Showalter said. “We’re going to be around $90 million and we don’t care what other payrolls are. This is who we are and how we do it.’’
Dynamic young catcher Matt Wieters said the postseason loss to the Yankees is fueling the team this season.
“It gives us a bar,’’ Wieters said. “You want to improve every year. We improved last year and our goal this year is to improve on last year and every team coming into spring training should feel like they have the team to win the World Series and we’re no different.’’
Already the talk is the Orioles will never have the same one-run success as last season when they finished 29-9 in one-run games. But this is all about having continued success — not one-year wonders — and that is what Showalter and Duquette have done.
“There’s continuity,’’ Showalter said.
“It’s so great to have those two guys in charge,’’ Wieters said. “You can see what they’ve done from their past track records and you put all the faith in the world that they can keep putting us where we want to go. They are trying to give us whatever we need to be successful.’’
Duquette was the GM who set up the Red Sox for their 2004 World Series success, bringing in many of their key players, including Manny Ramirez, Pedro Martinez, Johnny Damon, Derek Lowe and Jason Varitek. It took him 10 years to get another GM job, until the Orioles hired him last year.
“It took a little patience,’’ Duquette said with a smile.
He quickly made the most of it and is quick to point to the past administration and Andy MacPhail, the team’s former president of baseball operations, who left him building blocks of success such as Wieters and center fielder Adam Jones. Duquette and his scouts added all the right pieces and Showalter made it work.
“Buck is so passionate about the game,’’ Duquette said. “He’s a pleasure to work with and has a tremendous interest in the entire organization.’’
That big picture perspective energizes everyone and gives young players hope.
The Orioles got a huge boost on the pitching front from the minors last year and Duquette pointed to ex-Mets pitching coach Rick Peterson, who guides the minor league pitchers for Baltimore.
“Rick did a really good job of helping us remake the starting pitching during the season,’’ Duquette said.
The bullpen saved the Orioles and that bullpen is strong again. The rotation is solid, if not spectacular, and young right-hander Dylan Bundy is getting close.
After so much losing, the Orioles believe again.
kevin.kernan@nypost.com