Ya gotta believe! Maybe, kinda, sorta. That’s the New York Mets' approach as they look ahead to the 2018 season.
FanGraphs' projections for the coming year peg the Mets at 81 wins, 11 games behind the Nationals in the NL East. The most positive thing you can say is it puts them only four games behind the Giants for the second wild-card spot. By these numbers, the Mets are better than the Phillies, Braves, Marlins, Pirates, Brewers, Reds, Rockies and Padres in the National League.
Eighty-one wins is a lousy place to be, though, because you’re at the bottom edge of contention but not close enough to the bottom of the standings to net a premium draft pick.