NL East Belongs to The Mets

Everybody else in the National League East is playing for the wild card, it appears, now that the New York Mets have opened up a commanding lead -- 9 1/2 games entering the weekend.

In the last 20 years, only five teams have ever held that big a lead at the end of play on June 15. All of them eventually won their division, three of them made it to the World Series, and two -- the 1998 Yankees and the 1986 Mets -- won it all.

The Mets look like a complete team now that Orlando Hernandez and Alay Soler have stabilized the rotation, and Jose Valentin's steady defense has convinced the Mets they can live with his modest offensive production.

One would figure the Mets would stand pat given those developments and the comfort of a first-place lead. But plenty of people insist Mets GM Omar Minaya is still a very active presence on the GM phone network, asking primarily about starting pitchers.

Perhaps Minaya is looking ahead to a postseason series and wondering if he really wants Hernandez and Steve Trachsel pitching Games 3 and 4.

CODE OF CONDUCT : We can appreciate the sentiment behind Ken Kendrick's vows to draw up a strict code of conduct for his Arizona Diamondbacks organization, but the naivete it shows for the way management/labor issues work in baseball is almost laughable.

Kendrick, the D-backs' managing general partner, said team officials have started to draw up a code of conduct for the players in the wake of pitcher Jason Grimsley's revelations regarding the use of performance-enhancing drugs. The new rules, according to Kendrick, would go beyond the standard "morals" clause written into players' contracts.

Of course, enforcing any such conduct rules would violate baseball's collective bargaining agreement, which sets the workplace rules for all 30 teams.

One prominent player agent familiar with Kendrick's efforts accused him of grandstanding, saying Kendrick, who took over the franchise two years ago, merely "wants to ingratiate himself with Bud Selig and the other owners" by taking a hard-line stance against the players.

NATS' TRADE BAIT : One scout from a mid-market team who recently checked out the Washington Nationals said his bosses now prefer Tony Armas Jr. over Livan Hernandez when it comes to starting pitchers who are potential trade targets.

Undoubtedly, that has as much to do with Armas's more manageable contract -- he makes $2.1 million and is a free agent after this season, while Hernandez makes $8 million this year and another $7 million in 2007 -- as it does his performance this season.

Still, if we're talking about a contending team playing huge games in September and October, somehow we'd feel better giving the ball to Hernandez every fifth day, as opposed to Armas, despite what their respective numbers might say in June.