1. The surging Mets, now tied for first place with the Phillies in the NL East, will win the next three games, increasing their winning streak to 13 straight games. Alas, their world wont' be perfect: Pedro Martinez will accidentally dip his chocolate into Orlando Hernandez's peanut butter, and both injury-prone veterans will have a violently allergic reaction to the new concoction.

2. The Yankees will take two of three from the A's at Yankee Stadium, with ttheir new arrival Richie Sexson contributing a homer and three RBI. Meanwhile, Sexson and Sidney Ponson, both of whom are drawing only the pro-rated minimum wage from the Yankees, will make a few extra bucks by teaching Insubordination 101 at nearby Columbia.

3. When all of the zookeepers get exhausted from overwork at the acclaimed Cincinnati Zoo Saturday morning, David Wright will be asked to tend to the giraffes. It's the second time this week he'll be asked to perform an unfamiliar job.

4. I will be appearing on "Sports Extra" with Duke Castiglione, Sunday night at 10:30 on Channel 5.

5. It kind of got lost with the busy week, but let's discuss the fact that Alex Rodriguez left the All-Star Game early Tuesday night.

Bob Tufts asked me in the live chat yesterday how many times a player has left the All-Star Game early, and my response to him was, "Countless." Early Wednesday morning, when I entered the clubhouses after the game's completion, I'd say they were about three-quarters full. Off the top of my head, for starters, I didn't see Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz and Billy Wagner _ who, like A-Rod, made himself available to the media before taking off.

Now, given A-Rod is who he is, should he have hung around? Absolutely. He is the game's best player, and more specific to this year, he was the marquee player on the host team. He looked foolish for leaving early, deservedly so.

It was his frenemy, Derek Jeter, who once again played it perfectly, hugging Michael Young when the Rangers' shortstop (and A-Rod's former teammate in Texas) delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly.

Expanding the discussion to A-Rod's legacy, of course it's unfair to completely pin the Yankees' "lack of success" the past four years on him. The Yankees' main problem in the postseason has been starting pitching, as I blogged about here last year.

But A-Rod has been brutal in the postseason since 2004 ALCS Game 5, and no one else has picked up the slack. And when he does stupid things like leaving his own team's All-Star Game early, it makes it more difficult to empathize for him.

The Phillies gave up some interesting kids, particularly Adrian Cardenas. But Cardenas is a second baseman, and the Phillies are set there for a very long time with Chase Utley.

Meanwhile, the Phillies receive Blanton, who become the second A's starting pitcher traded this month. Whereas Rich Harden, traded to the Cubs last week, has the considerably higher ceiling, Blanton is the reliable innings-eater. Despite his shaky 2008 season, Blanton figures to be an upgrade over Adam Eaton.

I always enjoy entering a team's clubhouse on the first day back from the All-Star break. There's a lighter mood, undoubtedly. The contending teams feel refreshed and ready to sprint to the finish line. As for the teams that are out of it, at least they enjoyed a few days to wander away and forget about work.

So even though this isn't the mathematical second half that kicks off in a couple of hours, both the Mets and Yankees are nearly 59 percent done with their schedules _ it's the spiritual second half. And time, therefore, to pose the five biggest questions about the second half:

1. Will the Yankees ever find their offensive stride?

If I were to bet on one offensive slacker turning it up a notch, it's Bobby Abreu. He historically performs better in the second half, and he has a new contract to earn.

But Derek Jeter looks old, Robinson Cano confused (Jim, I think I gave Cano too much credit when you asked me about him in our chat) and Melky Cabrera exposed. A-Rod, while not terrible, is performing poorly with runners in scoring position, adding fuel to his recent career history of hitting worse in the even-numbered years.

So I don't see them getting on the sort of offensive run they put together last year. And even if they do, their pitching isn't as good as it was last year.

Maybe Richie Sexson can help. Stranger things have happened.

2. Can the Mets continue to provide evidence they're not SOFT?

Just two weeks ago, we still had little reason to think that the Mets would snap out of their funk. A nine-game winning streak has a large impact, particularly in this age of parity.

I'd say we'll know a lot about the Mets by the end of this month. Look at whom they have, after this four-game series in Cincinnati: A six-game homestand against the Phillies and Cardinals, and three games in Miami with the Marlins. That will be an excellent test of both their actual talent and their resiliency.

3. Will we see any bigger trades than those of CC Sabathia and Rich Harden through July 31?

No. I think the Rockies will hold onto Matt Holliday. Teams are increasingly reluctant to give up prospects, and Colorado shouldn't trade Holliday unless it receives a boatload of said prospects. Might as well shop him over the winter, when clubs will be more open-minded about their needs, or just hold onto him and make another run in 2008.

Likewise, I think Pittsburgh GM Neal Huntington figures that he can gladly keep Jason Bay and Xavier Nady if he doesn't get the package he desires.

But I do think that the Rockies will trade Brian Fuentes to Tampa Bay, and that the Yankees will get Damaso Marte back, finally, from the Pirates; they traded him to Pittsburgh in 2001 for Enrique Wilson.

And I also think some lesser outfield names like Casey Blake and Raul Ibanez will go. The Mets like Ibanez, but it doesn't make sense to get a lefty-hitting outfielder is Ryan Church can return. Blake is a better fit.

4. Whither the Rays?

My crystal ball is foggy on this one. After I bailed on the Blue Jays last week, the Jays proceeded to go 5-1, while Tampa Bay enters the second half with a seven-game losing streak.

Maybe I should've hung tough. When a team loses seven straight, you start to wonder whether it is...yes...wait for it...SOFT.

5. Remember all of those big-name free agents who haven't retired yet? Will any of them come back?

I think Kenny Lofton will find work, finally, with a team that loses an outfielder. But David Wells, who is still very anxious to play, will retire as a heartbroken multi-millionaire. Roger Clemens, who still hasn't formally announced his free agency, is a little too busy with other endeavors.

A Newsday reader named Linda Fairgrieve e-mailed me Sunday morning, in response to the column I wrote about Bobby, to share a letter she wrote to the "Yankee for Life" after reading the book of the same title written by Murcer.

Linda doesn't know if Bobby ever read her letter. But I thought it was a beautifully-written note, and she agreed to let me share it with you:

Just want to tell you that your book was fantastic. I was so disappointed that my husband and myself were going to be away when you were signing books in Huntington, Long Island May 27th.

Linda Fairgrieve

So no Midweek Insider. It will return next week as part of Newsday.com's regularly scheduled programming. Instead, I'm going to focus on writing a column for Thursday's Newsday.

Now that I'm more rested and have read your early comments, a few more thoughts:

It was a long, long night, and you know that Bud Selig had to be squirming like a government witness, as the game marched toward the moment where position players would be forced to pitch. But ultimately, I think that what transpired further validated Selig's "This Time It Counts" idea.

Neither side gave in until the 15th inning. In the interim, both teams turned up their pitching and defense in extra innings to keep the game tied. If you saw the game, you watched how thrilled AL manager Terry Francona appeared to be, hugging Detroit manager Jim Leyland after Justin Morneau tagged up from third base. and scored on Michael Young's game-winning sacrifice fly. And after the game, the players seemed to be reveling in the game's length and quality. It was a very crisply played game, with the extremely notable exception of Dan Uggla.

I'll have more later today, but that's going to be it for now. I'd love to hear your thoughts, particularly those of you who attended. Jim, did you stay for the whole game?

I mean, Alfonso Soriano received a bigger applause than Steinbrenner. It wasn't even close.

Could it be that the fans were rebelling against the Steinbrenner love, mindful of all the abuses he has heaped upon his employees over the years? I'd like to think so, but probably not.

Maybe there should have been more of a build-up? Perhaps a reel of clips from George's more boisterous days? Him holding a World Series trophy? In his Miller Lite commercial with Billy Martin?

I don't know, but certainly, that will not go down in history as the baseball powers envisioned it. Yeesh.

Read this quote by Brian Cashman, however, and you'll see the Yankees' true thinking:

"I would say any rampant speculation on us involving a player of that magnitude would be extremely premature. I would caution everybody to not misunderstand that since I'm not saying no to it, that that means, 'Oh my gosh, that that might be happening down the line.' It's not something we're focused on at this point. We're focused on getting Hideki Matsui back rather than, you know, what we're going to do if he's not back."

There's two components to that quote:

1) Cashman can't come right out and say that he doesn't want Bonds, because everyone knows that the Players Association is seeing if there's a collusion case to be made concerning the lack of interest in Bonds. A "We don't want him" quote from Cashman is ammo for the union.

2) With the actual words, Cashman attempted to help the reporters standing around him at Yankee Stadium today (I was in the pack of reporters). He wasn't very subtle.

While the Yankees will likely have a job opening for Bonds, Cashman has tried to make his team younger, more versatile and less cranky. Bonds is 0-for-3 on that score.

Yes, he had a very impressive 2007, but when you weigh a) that Bonds has now missed more than half a season; b) that players' statistics drop when they go from the National League to the American League; c) that the Yankees, one of the teams most burned by the Mitchell Report, have little desire to bring in a key figure from baseball's past; and many other negatives, potential negatives outweigh the potential positives.

I think it's quite likely you'll see Richie Sexson in a Yankees uniform when they return to action on Friday. They'll try that avenue for now. Maybe they'll revisit Bonds. But I wouldn't bank on it.

Bob T., I eagerly await your response.

So, for example, starting catchers Joe Mauer and Geovany Soto will stand next to Yogi Berra and Gary Cater behind home plate.

There are a total of 50 Hall of Famers present - two catchers, four managers, six rightfielders, one centerfielder (Willie Mays), three leftfielders, one designated hitter (Paul Molitor), five shortstops, three third basemen, four second basemen, five first basemen and 15 pitchers.

Willie Randolph will be at the All-Star Game tonight, as George Steinbrenner's guest. So maybe this will be a good time for Gary Carter to track down Willie, to apologize for the fiasco from Memorial Day weekend.

"I have one number of his, and it keeps getting the same message, that the Verizon party is not available," Carter said this morning, at a news conference featuring about 30 Hall of Fame member. "He doesn't have a voice mail on it. What can I say?"

Carter, the manager of the Orange County Flyers, kept claiming that he did nothing wrong. I attempted to call his bluff, to explain to him why people were so turned off by what he did. But I'm pretty certain I failed.

I told him that I thought it it was "unseemly" to lobby for another person's job. To say that he could show up at Shea Stadium at a moment's notice.

Carter responded that he simply wanted people to know that he was available, and he added, "My name was being mentioned on ESPN. It was being talked about. That’s it. How can you not be interested in something that’s being talked about. There was no malicious intent.

"He was the manager. I simply made the comment, 'I'm available. I don’t think there was any harm intended.'"

It's true that the Sirius Satellite Radio people asked Carter if he would be interested, and that's on them. Because anyone with an ounce of knowledge understood that Carter wasn't so much as a longshot candidate to replace Randolph. He had a zero percent chance of getting the job.

I asked Carter if he could appreciate the notion of intent vs. impact. That, even if he meant no harm, he created a great deal of it.

"Obviously, I think what was transpiring was they were trying to take the heat off of Willie at the time and throw me under the bus," Carter said.

"They" meaning the media, I asked, or the Mets?

"The Mets," he said. "Don't you think?"

I laughed. "You did change the conversation," I said.

"Well, there you go," he said. He implied that Keith Hernandez might have been pushed by team management to rip Carter. I disagree with that; Hernandez hates Carter plenty on his own.

In any case, Carter said, "That’s behind. I have made my apologies. I’ve done everyting possible. ...But you know what? Im happy where I’m at. I’ll finish off this season. If nothing materializes, I’ll go play golf. I’ll see where it goes."

Chipper gets it. He understands the role he has played in the Braves-Mets rivalry, and he has embraced it. Really, if you were to rank the key figures in this rivalry, he'd have to be number one from either side, wouldn't he?

Anyhoo, with Yankee Stadium understandably getting all of the attention this week, Chipper smiled when a reporter asked him about Shea Stadium. He confirmed that he intends to speak with Mets vice president of media relations Jay Horwitz about getting a souvenir from Shea _ a seat, a sign, whatever _ and wants to bring his son Shea (born in 2004 and, yes, named after Shea Stadium) to the Mets' home before they thankfully blow it up.

"Shea is one of my favorites," Chipper said. "You just have a couple of parks that you see the ball really well in. You get pumped up to play. Obviously, being a division rival, all of our games against them are important. You're really jacked up to play there. ...I'll be sad to see Shea Stadium go. I really will."

Chipper has hit 19 regular-season homers at Shea, the most he's hit at any opposing ballpark.

I'm going to have to respectfully disagree with two competing baseball writers, Jayson Stark of ESPN and Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports. Both gentlemen opine that A-Rod should have competed in tonight's Home Run Derby.

But the next fan I meet who cares about the Derby will be the first. I think we can all agree that the Derby is an absolutely dreadful event. It's too long. It's played out, particularly as we try to move past the Illegal PED era. And the fact that Chris Berman broadcasts it reflects its lowest-common-denominator vibe.

Shoot, two years ago, Bud Selig admitted that even his wife was bored by the length of the event. Good for Sue Selig. She has taste.

From my observations, this event works best as a social warm-up. You go, you have a few cocktails and you talk to your friends about where you're going out next. By the time you leave, maybe you know who won the Derby. But you'll forget by the time you wake up the next morning.

A-Rod feels that the derby messes with his swing. So does David Wright. That's their prerogative. The health of the game doesn't depend upon their participation in the Home Run Derby.

The Derby isn't going anywhere. It's too important to the overall All-Star Game experience. But it stopped being relevant _ and therefore, who competes in it isn't relevant _ about 10 years ago.