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Tom Verducci

1. Labor talks. The owners are under a gag order, but the ball has to get rolling soon. There's even talk that rather than play the World Series under a dark cloud -- imagine the media speculation on this being the last one for many years -- owners might consider a one-year rollover of the current agreement.

2. Chasing records. Barry Bonds (home runs), Luis Gonzalez (home runs and total bases), Todd Helton (RBIs) and Manny Ramirez (Triple Crown) are worth watching every night.

3. The Expos. It's time to get them out of Montreal. Best bet for relocation: Northern Virginia.

4. The breakup of the Mets. This is an aging team that won't win. Does this mean they move Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile, Armando Benitez and anybody else of value?

5. A furious finish in the NL West. The Dodgers hold the cards. L.A. finishes with four at home against the Diamondbacks, three at home against San Francisco and then three in Arizona. Expect it to go down to the last weekend.

Jeff Pearlman

1. The Jimy Williams Saga. Is there any remaining doubt about Williams' stock as one of the game's top minds? Red Sox GM Dan Duquette has never shown Williams much love, but many a club (KC, Florida, Detroit, Oakland) would come 2002. Where he winds up, nobody knows.

2. Contraction. By now, it's certain -- contraction is the way to go. The question is, will owners have the guts, will the players' union give in and which teams will it be? Tampa Bay and Montreal are the picks here, but Oakland and Florida are equally strong candidates.

3. Billy Beane loves Art Howe. Just kidding. The two clearly have different visions of how a baseball team should operate. Beane has never been a huge Howe booster. If Oakland remains 15-20 games out, does the skipper last through season's end? Doubtful.

4. Can the Twins shock the world? It's unlikely, because Tom Kelly's lineup is so darn mediocre. But the starting trio of Radke-Milton-Mays is legit, and Latroy Hawkins has become a very sound closer. Pitching wins, but can it win sans offense?

5. Going the way of the Bay. The city of Tampa continues its search for a Major League Baseball team, pursuing the A's and Expos. Will anything come of it?

Stephen Cannella

1. Barry's home run pace. It's not quite as magical as the 1998 assault on Maris' mark, but Barry Bonds' pursuit of Mark McGwire's record is gripping for the sheer relentlessness of his pace. Bonds went deep 39 times in the Giants' first 88 games, a pace that would give him 72 over a full season -- and that's after a 13-game homerless streak. The only drama in the season's final weeks might be whether he reaches 80, and whether he can forge a bond with fans. And don't forget, Bonds is a free agent after the season. What will it take to re-sign a newly crowned home run king?

2. Ichiro's hit parade. Ichiro Suzuki might not reach George Sisler's single-season hit record of 257 (at the All-Star break he was on pace for 254) but he still bears watching. It's been 71 years since anyone had more than 240. There's also the Mariners' ever-increasing win total. With 63 in their first 87 games, they're on schedule to easily pass the Yankees' AL regular-season mark of 114.

3. Pitching is back. Maybe it's the strike zone, maybe it's the bumper crop of quality young arms (that's you, Ben Sheets, Wade Miller, Tim Hudson, Joe Mays and Mark Mulder). Whatever the reason, scoring and walks are down, and league-wide ERAs are on the verge of dropping after several seasons of steady climbing. Can the return to sanity survive the hot summer months?

4. Upside-down standings. Finally, there's a real prospect of some new blood in the postseason. Everyone's waiting for the Twins and Phillies to fold, but both are still in first place. And is this finally the year for the Cubs? The best division races will be in the NL East, AL Central and NL Central, and they are gleefully unpredictable. Four of the six division leaders at the break finished in third place or lower last season. Who says there's a competitive imbalance?

5. The labor war. We won't see much happen on this front until the season ends, but the prospect of a work stoppage when the current labor agreement expires will be the elephant in the room all summer and fall. Can the owners sell the players on an effective salary drag? For that matter, can all 30 owners get on the same page? Another strike or lockout (the latter is more likely) would be disastrous for a sport that has finally returned to its pre-1994 popularity.