“You could argue that Florida was the third-best team in our division last year, and they won the World Series.” -Mets GM JIM DUQUETTE

PORT ST. LUCIE – Something very strange happened in the NL East during last season’s stretch run.

“We have five teams in the division,” Jason Phillips said, “and four of them were in the playoff hunt with a week or 10 days to go.”

The proof was in the standings; only one division boasted four teams above .500. As the Mets’ luck would have it, it was the NL East, with the Braves (101-61, .623), Marlins (91-71, .562), Phillies (86-76, .531) and Expos (83-79, .512).

Such is life these days for the improved Mets, who could turn out to be a victim of their division’s success. Consider that the Mets could be markedly better in 2004 (a 15-game improvement over last year’s 66-95 record would put them at 81-81) without seeing a difference in the standings that usually accompanies such improvement (81-81 last year still would have finished last).

The AL East is certainly top-heavier thanks to the Yankees and Red Sox, but there may be no deeper division than the Mets’. Just look at what ended up happening last season.

“You could argue that Florida was the third-best team in our division last year,” GM Jim Duquette said, “and they won the World Series.”

The division’s quality has prompted the theory that the NL East may do something unprecedented. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, in the 35 years since divisional play began in 1969, there never has been a division to have every team finish above .500 (the 1991 AL West’s last-place team, the Angels, finished at .500 at 81-81).

What truly makes the NL East so challenging is that it lacks a perpetually bad franchise, a team like the Brewers, Pirates or Tigers. As such, there are no easy road trips, no simple sweeps.

“There’s not going to be any situation where you’re looking at a team in our division and saying, ‘Oh, good, we’ve got these guys for the next three days,’ ” Tom Glavine said.

The only silver lining for the Mets is that some of the division’s brightest stars have left. Gone are Gary Sheffield, Vladimir Guerrero, Greg Maddux, Javier Vazquez and Pudge Rodriguez. The new additions aren’t weak – Billy Wagner, Eric Milton, Carl Everett, Mike Cameron, Kaz Matsui – but they can’t match the previous star power.

The Mets believe that with other teams’ losses and their own improvements, they may be able to hang with the elite.

“It’s wide open,” said Cliff Floyd, a veteran of three NL East clubs (Expos, Marlins). “It’s zero-zero Opening Day, and I’m not just saying that because it’s the right thing to say. I think it’s wide open.”

Floyd then rattled off which team gained this and which team lost that. Then he eyed what the Mets have done.

“I think everybody’s going to be equal,” he said. “We’ve just got to go out there and prove that we’re better. I think that’s what every team is going to try to do.”

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EASTERN BLOCK

2003 RECORDS BY DIVISION

NL East: 427-382 (.528)

AL West: 337-311 (.520)

AL East: 416-394 (.514)

NL West: 407-402 (.503)

NL Central: 472-500 (.486)

AL Central: 370-440 (.457)