Don't be surprised if the New York Mets are the first team to clinch a playoff berth this Major League Baseball season.

        With the exception of the Mets, the National League East is shaping up as the weakest of baseball's six divisions.

        Montreal is off to a surprisingly good start, but the Expos lack depth and don't have the cash to beef up for a stretch run.

        Atlanta no longer has spectacular pitching and has a few soft spots in the lineup.

        Florida is at best a .500 team with promising young starting pitching and no bullpen.

        Philadelphia is off to a wretched start. The hitting figures to pick up, but the pitching probably won't enough to apply season-long heat on the Mets.

        Clinching the division early would enable Mets manager Bobby Valentine to rest his regulars (particularly catcher Mike Piazza) and set up his starting rotation for maximum playoff effectiveness.

        Pitching has been the most impressive thing about the quick start by the Mets. The staff isn't as good as it has performed so far but is probably significantly better than some critics expected.

        The Mets haven't hit or fielded well, but the roster is loaded with veterans who figure to get the job done in the long run.

        Don't be surprised if the Mets are in the 2002 World Series and the Yankees are not.

        TRADE WINDS: The Anaheim Angels reportedly are among four teams the Rangers contacted regarding Gabe Kapler. Kapler is being shopped because the Rangers have an abundance of outfielders.

        The Rangers recently traded for Calvin Murray and expect Juan Gonzalez back from an injury soon. They also have Carl Everett and Rusty Greer.

        Besides the Angels, the Dodgers, Pirates and Braves are teams possibly interested in Kapler, 26.

        The Angels might be reluctant to trade for Kapler because of his salary ($1.8 million this year and $3.25 million next year) but could be inclined to acquire him if they don't expect to re-sign center fielder Darin Erstad after the season. Erstad is eligible for free agency after the season and has been noncommittal about his plans for next year.

        Also, the Angels have what the Rangers are looking for: pitching.

        MANAGER-GO-ROUND: Five managers have been fired since spring training started, and all but Boston's Joe Kerrigan were saddled with teams that had no chance to be respectable. Phil Garner (Detroit), Davey Lopes (Milwaukee), Buddy Bell (Colorado) and Tony Muser (Kansas City) lost their jobs, but their successors won't fare any better. They're all scapegoats and victims of a financial structure that dooms more than two-thirds of the 30 teams to be also-rans before the season begins.

        Could Indians manager Charlie Manuel be the next skipper to go? That's the rumor in Cleveland, where the Tribe lost 13 of 15 after an 11-1 start. It doesn't help that Wednesday's crowd of 23,536 was the smallest in Jacobs Field history.

        The name of Bell already has surfaced.

        WHAT A ROADIE: The independent Atlantic League opens this weekend and the eight-team circuit again includes the Pennsylvania Road Warriors, who will play all 140 games in enemy stadiums. Talk about long road trips. The league operates the Road Warriors, who don't figure to be very good and should inflate the home records of the other seven teams.

        Is it a lousy idea or should Major League Baseball have followed suit with the Montreal Expos? If the Expos played every “home” series in a different Triple-A city, they'd probably draw more fans than the lame-duck team currently is at Olympic Stadium, and might win new fans across the country.

        A NEW MAN: Hideki Irabu was finished. He washed out with the Yankees and couldn't even make it with Montreal.

        At 32 and with a cranky elbow, Irabu's career had faded from potential to past tense.

        Only a team with pitching as horrific as the Texas Rangers' could offer refuge.

        With Jeff Zimmerman injured and John Rocker demoted to the minor leagues, Irabu was thrust into — out of desperation — the closer role.

        With four saves in the past five games, the job is now his to lose, but he's not making any assumptions.

        He has been down that road before.

        “I've just started (as the closer), and there are things I don't know,” Irabu said. “It's important to get some experience and get used to the job little by little.”

        MISS YOU: To be fair, it takes years to fully assess trades and transactions. And Vicente Padilla, acquired in the Curt Schilling trade, has been the Phillies' most dependable starter so far. And, yes, it's still early in the season.

        Still, it's interesting to look around baseball and notice that a pretty good rotation could be assembled from starting pitchers who were with the Phillies during the previous two years.

        How about Schilling (5-1, 3.07 for the Diamondbacks), Andy Ashby (2-2, 2.90 for the Dodgers), Paul Byrd (4-1, 3.06 for the Royals going into Thursday night) and Omar Daal (3-0, 1.25 for the Dodgers) with a choice between Bruce Chen (2-1, 3.24 for the Expos) and Nelson Figueroa (1-1, 4.20, but four of five quality starts for the Brewers) as the fifth starter?

        SHORT HOPS: Arizona's Schilling should be ashamed of himself for asking the Diamondbacks to close the roof at Bank One Ballpark for all his starts; team President Rich Dozer should feel worse for granting his wish.

        • Pittsburgh is carrying 13 pitchers as GM Dave Littlefield tries to trade one of his veterans, with lefty Ron Villone and relievers Mike Fetters and Brian Boehringer among those available.

        • The Rangers' recent improvement is credited to three factors — Irabu's success as a closer, the addition of gifted center fielder Calvin Murray, and Bill Haselman's handling of the pitching staff.

        • Since getting off to a 35-18 start in 2001, the Phillies are 60-77.

        • Rey Sanchez's homer off Baltimore's Calvin Maduro Tuesday for Boston was his first in more than two years. He had gone 1,094 homerless at-bats since April 12, 2000 — a span in which Barry Bonds hit 127 homers.

        • Needing one victory to pass Pat Rapp for the franchise lead in wins, the Marlins' Ryan Dempster has gone 0-4 in 11 starts since Sept.2.

        • The Dodgers are 7-1 with rookie shortstop Cesar Izturis batting leadoff.

        • With a 14-10 record, the Pirates had their first winning April since 1994.

        • Tom Glavine's 4-1 start for Atlanta raised his career April record to 38-18.

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