Whether you have "caught the bug that has been going around" in skipping work for Opening Day or you just don't pay attention to baseball until the Final Four and Masters are completed, consider yourself warned that the 2002 big-league baseball season is chock full of new trends, hot names and passé topics.

To increase your likelihood of becoming the office lunchroom hero, the barstool all-star and -- as always -- the apple of some significant other's eye, check out the list below for Page 2's guide to what's hot (and what's not) for the upcoming baseball season:

What's Hot, What's Not: The 2002 baseball season
Category	Hot	Not
Team	Minnesota Twins	Texas Rangers
GM	J.P. Ricciardi (Blue Jays)	Allard Baird (Royals)
Asian import	Kazuhisa Ishii (Dodgers)	Tsuyoshi Shinjo (Giants)
Minor-league franchise	Brooklyn Cyclones	Durham Bulls
Young flamethrower	Josh Beckett (Marlins)	Roy Oswalt (Astros)
Hat	Montreal Expos	Alternative-color Yankees
Dominican Republic's favorite son	Cristian Guzman (Twins)	Vlad Guerrero (Expos)
Endorsement contract	Video-game headliner	Stadium naming rights
Ballpark food	Asian-themed food	Garlic fries
Place to catch homers	Waveland Ave., Chicago	McCovey Cove, San Francisco
Hobby for ex-players	Own minor-league teams	Attend autograph shows
Medical situation	Tommy John surgery	Torn labrum
Player significant other	"Stadium wives"	The road-trip "friend"
Brothers	The Minors (Damon, Ryan)	The Giambis
Players' road-trip must	Strip clubs in Montreal	Strip clubs in Milwaukee
Starting pitching	Back of the rotation	Aces
Clutch closer	Matt Anderson (Tigers)	Mariano Rivera (Yankees)
Movie subject	35-year-old rookies	Cape Cod League kiddies
He's due for hardware ...	Mike Mussina	Randy Johnson
We're already sick of ...	The Jason Giambi hype	The Ichiro hype
Rivalry	Bowa-Torre	Rocker-Fans
Music played before at-bat	Ludacris	J-Lo
Players' electronic must-have	Color-screen celly	Personal DVD player
Pitch	Nasty slider	100-plus mph fastball
Historical homage	Goodbye, Twins-Expos	"Shot Heard 'Round ..."
Way to cheat	Shady birth certificates	Stealing signs from CF
Fashion trend	Back pocket inside-out	Wrist sweat bands
Lame excuse from a Rivera	"It was Scott Brosius' fault."	"Uh, that wasn't my glove?"
Red Sox trend	Cleanin' house	Winnin' titles
"He Hate Me"	Sammy Sosa	Barry Bonds
Jersey	Angels' "retro" look	A-Rod as Ranger
Fans' biggest fear	Player walkout in September	Management lockout in October
Relocated player	Robby Alomar	Carl Everett
Development trend	Latin "academies"	Scouting U.S. high schoolers
Latin America pipeline	Panama	Dominican Republic
Distraction	Labor woes	Contraction
Cubs' minor-league savior	Mark Prior	Corey Patterson
Managerial mind	Jim Tracy (Dodgers)	Tony La Russa (Cardinals)
World Series favorites	The Yankees	It's always the Yankees

Dan Shanoff is a regular contributor to Page 2.