Because I have to be a precious, unique snowflake, I'm somewhere in the middle, probably leaning to the nega side.
I think this front office has - indisputably - done a fine job of drafting and generally building up the farm system. Three years ago we had one of - if not the - worst farm systems in the game. Now, we have one of - if not the - best systems. That's impressive work, and it's genuinely worthy of praise.
But building up a farm system is only the first step in a re-build, and I think there are some folks around these parts who assume that a strong system will inevitably lead to a strong big league team, and it doesn't really work like that. I don't see much reason to be optimistic about the front office's ability to properly evaluate and integrate prospects onto the major league roster in an effective fashion. I don't see much reason to be optimistic about the front office's ability to evaluate big league talent and fill out a good, competitive roster. I don't see much reason to be optimistic about the front office's ability to think through the long-term ramifications of their decisions and follow through on a coherent plan*. And I don't see much reason to be optimistic that, even with the new ballpark, Liberty will open up the purse strings and provide us with a big-time budget.
There's a lot of talent in the system, and it's fun to follow it. But bridging the gap between big-time minor league talent and a competitive major league roster is tricky, and I won't believe the front office can do that until they actually show proof that they can.
*The Freeman-to-third thing is an excellent example. Moving Freddie Freeman to third base was probably always a stupid idea, but you can imagine scenarios where it makes a kind of sense - specifically, if we had a truly elite hitter under long-term control who was entirely restricted to first base. Instead, we shifted our franchise hitter across the diamond to make room for Matt Adams, who's not that great and not that likely to be on the roster next year, and then abandoned the idea after about a month. I mean, Freddie's Freddie, and he'll hit no matter what, so it's not like that little experiment did any long-term damage. And I imagine some fantasy players are THRILLED. But it was just so stupid and pointless.