Before moving forward, let's take a look back

Sing along now, "It's the most wonderful time of the year."

Ahh, springtime. The time of year when America's pastime gets back into full swing and the state of Florida actually gets to see winning baseball near Tampa.

But before the season begins, let's take healthy look back at what transpired over the last four months since Luis Gonzalez ended the 2001 season with a World Series-winning base hit over the head of Derek Jeter.

Once again, the chief newsmakers came from the Big Apple, as both the Yankees and Mets battled over day-to-day rights to the back pages of the New York Post.

For the Yankees and the Oakland A's, Jason Giambi proved that a city's admiration, great young teammates and a bright future mean nothing compared to a bigger paycheck.

The 2000 AL MVP and 2001 runner-up left Oakland, a city and team which loved the personable star's laid back winning attitude, for a much bigger bank account in New York, signing a seven-year, $120 million deal in December.

In all, the Yankees added 12 new players as they bid goodbye to fan favorites Paul O'Neill, Scott Brosius, and Luis Sojo, who all retired.

Not to be outdone, the Mets made plenty of headlines as well this winter, acquiring a total of 15 players via trade.

The two biggest names the boys from Flushing acquired were second baseman Robbie Alomar and first baseman Mo Vaughn, two players the Mets deemed necessary to add some pop to the National League's worst offense in 2001.

The additions of Alomar, Vaughn and right-fielder Jeromy Burnitz (acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers), meant the Mets had to get rid of some talent themselves.

Gone are recent postseason heroes Robin Ventura, whose "grand single" in the 15th inning of the NLCS against the Braves in 1999 will forever be remembered as one of the greatest moments in franchise history, and Benny Agbayani, who had a game-winning home run against the Giants in the NLDS in 2000.

The 2002 Major League Baseball season also will mark the first time since 1981 that neither Tony Gwynn or Cal Ripken, Jr. will be lacing them up for the San Diego Padres or Baltimore Orioles, respectively.

Baltimore also will be without outfielder Brady Anderson for the first season since 1988, after the centerfielder was released a this winter and signed by the Cleveland Indians.

Perhaps the most bizarre incident to come from this winter was the tale of Pokey Reese, who, in a span of three days, was a member of three different organizations, none of which he will play for in 2002.

It started on December 19, when Reese was traded from Cincinnati to the Colorado Rockies. The next day, Reese was traded from Colorado to the Boston Red Sox, who eventually released the Gold Glove second baseman for salary reasons.

In the end, Reese is now a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates, who signed him on January 31.

Reese was not the only player to be traded this winter to a team he would never play for, he was just the only player to do it twice in two days.

Outfielder David Justice was acquired by the Mets for third baseman Robin Ventura on December 7, only to be traded again, this time to the Oakland A's a week later.

Another deal of this nature also involved the Mets, who traded utility player Desi Relaford to the Giants, who then traded Relaford to the Seattle Mariners for David Bell.

Once again, the Texas Rangers decided to make some waves in the offseason, adding baseball's two biggest clubhouse cancers, Carl Everett and John Rocker, to a roster that, in all, would add 17 players from nine different teams.

The World Series Champion Arizona Diamondbacks chose to do very little in the offseason, but it is what they couldn't do that made headlines.

The Diamondbacks apparently had thought they signed free agent pitcher David Wells in late December, offering him more years and more guaranteed money than any other suitor.

However, Wells' love for the Yankees and the New York nightlife led him back to his old team where he will vie with Orlando Hernandez for the number five spot in the Yankees' rotation.

Perennial NL East champion, the Atlanta Braves, broke a long-standing tradition by acquiring some offense this winter in the name of Gary Sheffield and Vinny Castilla.

The signing of Castilla means Chipper Jones moves to left field, where, along with Sheffield and centerfielder Andruw Jones, he will form one of the most offensively potent outfields in all of baseball.

In a feeble attempt to make it to 500 homeruns (he's only 38 shy), aging slugger Jose Canseco signed a minor league contract with the Montreal Expos.

Apparently, Canseco plans to pinch hit 38 homeruns this season, as the Expos are in the National League, where they don't have the designated hitter.

Speaking of Canseco, fellow Bash Brother Mark McGwire, the first man to ever hit 70 homeruns in a single season, retired due to continuing physical problems.

Major League Baseball also had its share of sadness to deal with this winter.

First, 1996 National League MVP Ken Caminiti, who made his battles with alcohol abuse public in the early 1990s, was arrested in a hotel room in mid-November for possession of crack cocaine.

Caminiti's former team, the San Diego Padres, also had to deal with the loss of outfielder Mike Darr, who was killed in a auto accident early in spring training.

After a winter that featured it's fair share of bizarre activity and a typical headline-making offseason in New York, the 2002 Major League Baseball season is set to get under way.

With such a magical ending to last season, let's hope that 2002 has similar suspense and excitement in store for us all.