GOODYEAR, Ariz. — Deep down, the players get it. When a team is simply not good enough to win, and the front office emphasizes the future over the present, the players can tell. They know their effort goes only so far.

“We always feel like we can win, and then when it’s in the media that we’re rebuilding, it’s tough; it’s almost like a fake kind of energy,” said Scooter Gennett, the second baseman for the suddenly revitalized Cincinnati Reds. “But now, we know that they expect us to win. It’s a lot better. It’s a lot more real. There’s a lot more excitement than past years.”

No team arrived at spring training this year with a bigger turnaround in expectations than the Reds. The only team in the majors with at least 90 losses in each of the last four seasons, the Reds simply decided they were tired of it.

They traded for the veteran starters Sonny Gray, Tanner Roark and Alex Wood, improving a rotation with a 4.97 earned run average since 2015, the highest in the National League in that period. They added the slugging outfielders Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig. They also hired a new manager and 10 — yes, 10 — new coaches.