If you look at the rotation and the infield...there really isn't much more work to do. Young studs galore at the top of the rotation, depth, studs at the corners and at C on the diamond, and a solid DP combo.

Bullpens are usually a cr.apshoot anyway...so how far away should we be from contending if the only real area to address is the OF?

1 to 2 years. Keep in mind our division has become rediculously stacked with talent. We could very well have a competitive, well built team and still only win the division once or twice in the next decade.

The Braves don't scare me even a little bit. If you look at their losses from last year, they have arguably not even improved offensively, especially when considering you're taking Upton out of that hitters dream in Arizona. They don't have a single SP that threw 30+ starts with a sub-4.00 ERA. A lot of solid players...not a lot of star potential.

The Phillies are crumbling, and the Marlins are a joke.

The Nationals will be great for a long time....but even so, with the 2 WC spots, I'll like our chances soon.

The Phillies still have Lee, Holliday, and Hamels. The Braves still have the best bullpen in baseball that effectively shortened every game to 6 innings, and the Nationals are the best team in baseball now that they won't be shutting down their best pitcher even though he is perfectly healthy. Every team has a strength, we still only have a potential unproven strength. This division will be a brawl from 2014-2018.

If they're willing to spend and fill at least two spots in the outfield with good talent, we really should be able to in 2014.

Halladay is not Halladay anymore. Lee and Hamels are formidable but nowhere near enough to lift that team into contention.

The Braves have a tremendous pen, no doubt about it...but not to the point where they have shortened every game to 6 innings. That is just silly.

no comment... but wow.

We need a real bullpen with a real closer too.

Oh yea, that goes without saying. I definitely should've mentioned a closer as well. Though bullpens in general do tend to be unpredictable enough that I wouldn't yet necessarily say they need to go out and spend big money to address it. We have some pitchers here that very well could be long term solutions.

And that Braves pen is all entering or in their arbitration years now so it may well become too expensive for them to hold together for too much longer. Braves never drew a high attendance even during their dominating stretch and have never gone wild with payroll. Maybe things will change but right now they are very close to their old max payroll. Next year they will have 1/2 their team becoming free agents or deep into arbitration years. It could get too expensive real fast.

The Mets can be competitive in 2014, with some luck and all that kind of stuff, maybe even in 2013 (dreaming). They should be able to contend by 2015. One thing that some fail to realize, even though the Phillies are getting older, etc., they are not going to sit still. The Braves will improve as will other teams in the division. The Nats are in a good position for the next few years.

I agree we have a good IF and a potentially very good starting rotation by mid year and into the next few years. The BP is a tossup and the OF is either a nightmare or has some potential, dependent on your viewpoint. Its Mets baseball, fun in the sun.

Only way we can compete this year is if everything miraculously falls in our favor. In 2014 we should have Wheeler ready with more money to spend. In 2015 we should have Syndergaard ready with even more money to spend. In 2016 Wheeler and Syndergaard should be in comfortable form and we may have our best season ever then.

It depends how how good the young studs in the rotation are. If Harvey is what he was last year, or even better, and Wheeler is as good as Harvey, or even better as some say he could be, then this rotation will be ready next year (this year?). If TDA is as good as advertised, or even close, the lineup will have three legitimate power bats in it with Wright, Davis, and D'Arnaud. That is a good back bone of a really solid lineup, when you sprinkle in nice OB guys like Tejada and Murphy.

So basically, even this year they could have a team that is almost a contender, except we left out the OF and BP. The BP seems to have depth this year, and finally Sandy did something about a problem that has existed for 6 seasons. They still need a shut down Closer before they can be a contender.

So basically, the need a Closer, and another bat or two in the OF, which can be done by next season, and they can be as good as any team in the NL on any given day.

I don't know if Syndergaard will be ready by 2015, its possible. I would think 2016 for sure. Either way, if Harvey, Wheeler, and Syndergaard live up to their potential, that is a dynamic core of a starting rotation. Throw in Niese (if he's still with us) and we have the potential to be annual contenders for a while to come. It looks alot better now than it has for quite a while. Optimism is good with some realism thrown in.

162 games.

Competitive? probably this year. I think our starters will keep us in games but we cannot afford another egg from Ike Davis at the beginning of the year or another lost year from DudA. Our BP has to be better than last year because we were dead last.

Championship worthy? that is hard to tell because we need to have a couple of more stars besides David and a solid BP/closer which we don't have. The Mets have to improve big time in order to compete with the Nats and Braves.

We would need a power infusion like a trade for a Stanton type player.

This is possible in 2014 after all the bad contracts are gone.

Other than solid production at 3rd base,1st base, and Jon Niese being a typical 14-9 type pitcher, there are far too many holes,question marks and too much banking on unproven prospects to even consider this team as a contender. As far as how far away? Its a tough division, and one can never tell with regard to how prospects will pan out. Harvey and Wheeler could either turn into the next Seaver-Koosman or Paul Wison-Pulsipher.

We need an outfield, a closer, and some time for the prospects to get to the major leagues and start playing as a team. Possible shot at the wild card in 3-4 years, serious contention in 5-6...just in time to have to rebuild again.