Q and A - Optimistic or Pessimistic?

Reese Kaplan asks –

Based upon the statements from Jeff Wilpon and Sandy Alderson at last Tuesday's press conference, are you more or less optimistic the club will do what's necessary to be competitive in 2018?

Mike Friere says –

Honestly, I am no more or less optimistic about 2018 after the latest press conference because the issue of money and the "dreaded" budget will not have a huge impact on the upcoming season.   I know that sounds odd, but the budget going forward will have a greater impact in the 2019 season and beyond when our core pieces start to hit free agency, etc.  The current roster is largely set and the previously set budget is basically "what it is" for the coming year.

It would be nice to see upgrades at 2B, 3B, in the bullpen (a lefty or two) and possibly at the back end of the rotation.  Despite the speech(es), I think Sandy can get at least one of the listed positions filled before Spring Training, but not all of them.

The biggest roadblock for success in 2018 remains the health of our rotation and our key offensive players........if the team stays healthy, they will be in the playoff hunt, in spite of the budget.

Eddie Corona says –

This ownership and Front office have been saying whatever they need to keep Mets fans calm and buying tickets. They Say and present nothing to instill faith that they are willing to do what it takes to position this team for sustained winning...

The Construction of the team is always flawed because they acquire bargain based players and hedging against salaries.. An example of this is Jay Bruce. Is his contract friendly, I argue its relatively at best. But it ruins its construction of the team because Conforto must now play Center field.

They don't have a plan or a vision... they do year to year enough to barely be relative so that fan will show up on the Field. 

David Rubin says –

Jeff and Sandy's words have not moved my confidence scale in one direction or the other. Actions always speak louder than words and so far they have continued to shop at the bargain bin, even though they were able to re-sign Jay Bruce way below what anyone expected he would command on the open market. That being said, The teams brain-trust seems more than happy to only search and continue to search for bargains and will not commit to spending that extra money to even give a megadeal to the superstars already in place, like deGrom or Thor, so nothing they have said has given me any reason to believe that they will spend like even a strong middle market team let alone like one that resides in the biggest market in the world. I would love to see that change but I will not hold my breath.

Tom Brennan says –

More optimistic...if the inflection point between the need for talent and the cost of that talent continues to improve and having the Marlins to beat on like a drum this season, any savvy businessman would want to add players to increase their chances for the post season, playoff drive baseball, and the increased attendance that goes with it.  Even ownership that is spending-averse.

Mack says –

Extremely pessimistic.

I am convinced that the current team is the one we will start the season with.

Sure, there might be a few unsigned players invited to the spring training complex, but, past that, the infield seems set. Matt Reynolds or Jose Reyes will fill in as the fifth outfielder until Michael Conforto returns, we have our two-headed catcher, the ‘Dream Rotation’ is healthy, and you can’t close the gate on how many relievers are being stuffed in the pen.