There's no point asking Roberto Alomar how his Met career turned to mist so quickly, and why he went from one of the 10 best players in the major leagues in 2001 to the game's greatest enigma -- a billboard of the Mets' underachievement.

	After hitting .336 with the Indians in 2001, Roberto Alomar saw his average drop 70 points in his only full season with the Mets.

Don't press Alomar for an answer, because like everyone else, he's stumped.

In fact, opposing general managers were so wary of Alomar, the Mets couldn't have dealt him to the White Sox on Tuesday unless they assumed almost every remaining penny of his 2003 contract, approximately $3.75 million. And it went without saying the Mets would only get minor league prospects in return -- although GM Jim Duquette considers Double-A lefty Royce Ring a potential successor to Armando Benitez.

While the Mets were busy projecting Ring into their 2005 plans, Alomar was fast-forwarding to his renewed American League career. He said by telephone, "That's a league I know well, and I'm comfortable playing in that (Central) division, because I was already there (with the Indians). I think things will be different for me now."

Being reunited with his brother Sandy is a huge factor in Alomar's belief that a renaissance is coming. If it occurs, though, the Mets will be left wondering what happened to the elite-caliber second baseman who once was on a straight path to Cooperstown. Alomar batted .336 in his last season with the Indians, then failed to top .270 in either of his two years with the Mets.

What went wrong? There are countless reasons. Alomar never embraced Shea's thick infield grass, which ate up so many potential singles, and the wide-open gaps in left and right-center, which made it harder for Alomar to hit home runs. He never truly bonded with the club's other superstars, like Mike Piazza and Mo Vaughn, and failed to socialize with the Mets' other Spanish-speaking players.

But the most startling of Alomar's struggles was against the National League's power pitchers.

Former Mets manager Bobby Valentine, an ESPN analyst, said, "I think Robby was surprised at just how many hard throwers there were in this (National) League. There were an incredible amount. I don't think he'll have to worry about that anymore (in the American League)."

Instead, Alomar will be able to bunt as often as he wishes, as well as slide head-first into first base. Those were two elements of Alomar's game that were frowned upon in New York. As a Met, Alomar said, "I felt a lot of pressure to live up to everyone's expectations, and it wasn't easy.

"I tried very hard to show everyone what kind of player I was. I guess I tried too hard. As a team, we didn't play well. When a whole team is under that kind of pressure, it affects everyone."

Alomar's theory -- and what Mets' executives told other clubs in their attempts to trade him -- was that a new environment was all that was missing. In other words, he needs a pennant race to motivate him. Certainly, Alomar thought he'd be part of a Mets' coup in the NL East in 2002 -- an experiment that failed so miserably, it got both Valentine and former GM Steve Phillips fired.

Today, the Mets are practically in ruins, realistically looking towards salvation no sooner than 2005. Benitez will soon be traded -- although the Mets hopes of dealing him to Boston suffered a huge blow on Tuesday, when the Red Sox announced they'd make Byung-Hyun Kim their closer.

But Benitez will be moved, one way or another. Neither he nor Alomar are part of the newer, younger, cheaper Mets who'll take the field next Opening Day. Yet, Alomar was looking forward to working with rookie shortstop Jose Reyes, even if the tutoring would've lasted just a few more weeks in New York.

"He has everything in skill, and he's ready to learn, which is so important," Alomar said of the 20-year-old Reyes. "All the Mets need is to be patient with him, because he's going to be great. But he's going to make mistakes, and the last thing that should happen is for people to criticize Jose while he's learning."

Alomar was planning to spend Tuesday afternoon at Shea teaching Reyes to bunt. Then came the call from Duquette to inform him of the trade. Alomar said, "now that I'm gone, the Mets need to find someone to teach Jose."

Alomar admits he'll miss watching Reyes flourish, and says the Mets' eventual reconstruction will feature a roster more in tune with Art Howe's laid-back demeanor. For now, though, the Mets are still sorting through the rubble of their 2002 and 2003 seasons. Alomar, too, is working through his own guilt.

"So many weird things have happened to this team, so many injuries, and I didn't hit like I should," Alomar said. "But I can say I did my best. For whatever reason, it didn't work out."

Bob Klapisch of The Record (Bergen County, N.J.) covers baseball for ESPN.com.