1) The progression of Zack Wheeler.

Wheeler was 7-5 with a 3.42 era and a 1.36 whip. But a met fans optimism doesn’t come from the stats alone. For that, you need to just watch him. His pure “stuff” is undeniable. Although he seemed to be a little too jacked up at times early, one assumes that will continue to decrease over time. With Harvey now officially out, Wheeler has a huge opportunity to take the reigns of this pitching staff and this is one mets fan who believes he can.

2) The emergence of Eric Young Jr and Lagares

When you hear people talk about these two the consensus seems to be, the Mets have a starter in the outfield in Lagares and a good 4th outfielder in EYJ. I think its the other way around. Lagares hit .242 with 4 homers, 35 runs scored, 34 RBI and 6 steals in 421 plate appearances. EYJ hit .251 with 1 homer, 48 runs scored, 26 RBI and 38 steals (which tied him for the most steals in the NL) in 418 plate appearances. I’d go with the guy who is at least elite at one thing than the guy who is average (at best) at multiple things, and the Mets need speed somewhere in this lineup.  Now yes, Lagares is 24 years old compared to EYJ’s 28 but besides that, I think the edge goes to EYJ. The reason for optimism here is the fact that we are even having this conversation after how bad our outfield prospects looked going into 2013, and that we fell, decently backwards, into these answers.

3) The questions of d’Arnaud, Syndergaard and Montero

With backwards upside down lowercase p ‘Arnaud, you just gotta hope all the scouts that raved about him and called him the best catching prospect in the game weren’t wrong. Because there wasn’t much, as fans, to hang your hat on with his 2013 performance. As far as Syndergaard and Montero you’re still going on what you hear from the “experts”, but what you’re hearing is that they have a chance to be special. Baseball America ranks Syndergaard as the top pitcher in the Eastern League(aa), and behind only Xander Bogaerts and Miguel Sano overall. Montero came in at 13 on that list. With both expected to make their major league debut next year, joining d’Arnaud on the Major League level, these three are certainly something for Mets fans to look forward to next year.

4) The promise from ownership that money will be spent this off-season

Alright this is the off-season that we’ve been told the purse strings will begin to open again, and the Mets can start to bring in free agents once more, like George Foster and Bobby Bonilla and Vince Coleman and Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar and Kaz Matsui and Jason Bay and the list goes on. Oh joy, NOW the Mets will be good because were going to sign  some free agents from this great class that includes guys, who you just know are going to earn every dollar of their contract,  like Ellsbury, Choo and, dare I say, Beltran. Wait, wasn’t this supposed to be a column about optimism?

5) The fact that you can still Tailgate and park for free

Although the Willets Point Development plan has been approved, with 3 billion dollars being earmarked from the City for the retail, hotel, and residential mega-plan, we Met fans still have sometime before the gentrification onslaught begins. What does that mean for me? Free parking & Tailgating will not be going away in 2014. How long it will be around after that? Its hard to say. But for at least one more year Mets games will still be one of the better deals in NYC for your entertainment buck, for no other reason than the free parking. (If you know where to look)