Some big off-season signings have Toronto FC fans feeling enthusiastic going into the team’s first home game of the season Saturday.

The excitement is tempered by history, however, as the devoted faithful wonder if they’re bound to be duped and have their hearts broken once again.

Adding the likes of Jermain Defoe was “very inspiring” for fans in the off-season, said Sean Cunningham, part of U-Sector, a club of Toronto FC supporters.

“It’s a huge deal to get players of the caliber they’ve brought in,” Cunningham said. “And in doing so, it does represent an indication the club is willing and able to realize what it takes to win. And the players they brought in have winning pedigrees, so it translates into a much better team than Toronto’s ever seen before.”

High expectations were solidified last week, when the team won their season opener against Seattle 2-1.

“Expectation’s probably at the highest it’s been since the first few seasons that the club’s been around,” Cunningham said. “The fans are really buzzing right now. You see a lot of Defoe jerseys, you hear a lot of talk about him.”

Duncan Fletcher agrees fans are feeling better than ever, but he says there’s also a sense of trepidation as the season begins.

“It’s kind of like a kid in a candy store with a nut allergy. You look around and say ‘Oh! That’s good.’ And then you take a bite and say ‘Oh, that’s not good at all,’ ” said Fletcher, part of Waking the Red, another Toronto FC fan community.

This isn’t the first season where things looked promising, said Fletcher. Fans had high hopes for the team in 2012, but the team went on to open the season with a spectacular losing streak.

“There’s definitely a sense of fool me once, that whole cliché,” he said.

Still, Fletcher expects the club to pull out some big wins this year, especially at home where the fans will be singing, chanting and cheering along. By the end of the season, he wants to see the Reds in the playoffs for the first time in the club’s history.

“It’s by no means a certainty, but making the playoffs is really the minimum expectation this year.”

Playoffs are the bare minimum for Cunningham, too.

“That’s the expectation with the level of players brought in and what they can do. I’m not going to say it’s going to be easy, but it’s expected.”

After having their own expectations shattered last season, some Blue Jays fans say it’s best to keep hope in check at the beginning of the season.

There was a “tremendous amount of excitement” heading into last season, said Kyle Franzoni, a Jays fan and the senior editor of Jays Journal.

“We weren’t just talking about playoffs, we were talking about a serious run at a World Series,” Franzoni said.

But Jays fans suffered through a tragically disappointing season. For Franzoni, the glimmer of hope was snuffed after the all-star break when his team lost six games in a row.

“The rest of the season from that point was up and down play and a comedy of injuries,” he said.

It’s tough to come back from a season like that, said Michael Wray, an ardent Jays fan who writes for Jays Journal. But perpetual heartache can help keep things in perspective.

“You become smarter, if not more cynical, by learning how to keep your expectations in check,” Wray said. “Never expect too much. If things go well, great. But if they don’t, you won’t be left feeling with what feels like a hole in your chest.”

Wray’s biggest piece of fan advice is to always remain loyal.

“You don’t want to be the one jumping back on the bandwagon when things inevitably turn around,” he said.

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Staying loyal doesn’t seem to be a problem for Cunningham. He’s part of a group of Toronto FC fans who spend the entire 90 minutes of home games not sitting but standing in the south stands at BMO field, singing and chanting the entire time.

“It’s probably the most fun that you’ll have at a sporting event. Because at most sporting events, you go and you sit on your hands for three periods or two halves or whatever,” he said.

“But here you actually feel like you’re helping to contribute.”