I think it was easier to deal with the bad back in 2006-2010. Fans knew how bad the on-field team was, and the farm was bereft of good talent ready to perform. Now, we are looking at a meddling ownership group that pays for the Boras clients and other "big time names" and refuse to pay the manager or the coaches. They run the team very differently than other successful franchises. It works for them, but they get tons of flack. As a fan, I'm tired of seeing new management every two years. It shows lack of faithfulness to good people, which means that add that to the pitiful salary and the pool of talent that are willing to interview goes down.
You have to budget in a good manager. It's pay to play. Ownership doesn't want to believe that because they feel a manager doesn't add enough value for the money, but are easily swayed by Boras to add valueless additions like Soriano and contrast to how I felt about the signing, Wieters.