My opinion on Mets' moves:

Let's be honest. Mo Vaughn's offensive power numbers should be better than Todd Zeile. Zeile will be a hard player to trade not only because of his salary but the Mets really made him a 1st baseman and he's been away from 3rd base awhile so a new team wouldn't know what to do with him.

True the Mets will probably be like the San Diego Chargers of the Dan Fouts years where they won games 38-35. But I wouldn't knock this starting staff so quickly. Leiter, Estes, Rusch and Trachsel are all capable of winning 12 games each. And the defense up the middle should be strong. If only Piazza can up his percentage of throwing out would be base stealers.

Do you suppose the Giambi signing by those cross-town rivals has something to do with the Mets piecing together their own Murderers' Row?

As Wallace Matthews of the New York Post wrote, "Hitting may put people into the seats, but pitching sends them home happy."

I'm still not sold on this trade. I'd be a lot happier if the Mets would sign Gonzo. I think we're going to be seeing plenty of 10-8 and 11-9 games this summer. That lineup is very impressive, but in the end, it still comes down to pitching. The Mets starting rotation and bullpen are pretty shaky. Who knows which Al Leiter will show up this year. Ditto Estes and Traschel. Benitez is fine until the pressure's on, and Franco will be coming off elbow surgery.

I'm having a hard time understanding this trade. Kevin Appier is a quality pitcher. Mo Vaughn hasn't had an injury-free year since 1998, and he looks absolutely HUGE these days. Not McGwire huge, mind you, just huge.....