CBS SportsLine's Fantasy Guide for 2007

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The rainy weather in Seattle has an effect on the Mariners' offense, despite the fact they play in a retractable-domed stadium. The damp air kept flyballs from leaving the field -- especially early in the season -- and only four other AL teams had fewer homers last year (172).

The Mariners' offense does have a number of stars on it, but as a group, they were only able to outscore the Devil Rays among AL teams. Only four AL teams stole more bases than the M's, but really, Ichiro Suzuki was the only player with more than 16 steals for the season. And you can't expect Adrian Beltre to chip in 11 swipes again either.

Speaking of Ichiro, the center fielder is in a contract year and we don't expect anything less than an average season from the Japanese superstar.

This season, the power bats in the lineup will have Jose Guillen (and surgically repaired elbow) behind them for protection. Raul Ibanez is coming off a career year and Beltre rebounded from his disastrous first season in the Emerald City.

And don't forget that Richie Sexson is entering an odd year. He has hit 45, 45 and 39 HR, to go with 125, 124 and 121 RBI in 2001, 2003 and 2005 respectively. Not that he has done poorly in even years (he totaled 34 HR and 107 RBI last year), but it's still a nice nugget to point out.

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The Giants went into the offseason vowing to get younger and more athletic. Noble goals. Then they went out and signed Barry Bonds, 42, Rich Aurilia, 35, Ray Durham, 35, Ryan Klesko, 35, Dave Roberts, 34, Russ Ortiz, 32, Bengie Molina, 32 and Pedro Feliz, 31.

The problem? They realized the premium it costs to get players who are not past their prime.

Hence all the money -- and years -- thrown at 28-year-old Barry Zito.

So, they remain old offensively, even if their pitching staff is young with some solid long-term pieces in Zito, Matt Cain, 22, and Noah Lowry, 26.

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The Rangers bring in a handful of new faces to join a squad that was one game away from a .500 record a season ago. Only three AL teams outscored Texas in 2006, but for a team notorious for giving up a ton of homers, they were only ranked 13th in home runs in the majors.

Also, don't count on many steals from this squad. Only the Braves and Red Sox had fewer successful steals then Texas' 53 last year.

As far as their pitching staff goes, they traded their top pitching prospect John Danks away for Brandon McCarthy. The latter has been groomed on a World Series staff for the past two seasons and is ready for a breakout season. He'll work as their third starter behind leftovers Kevin Millwood and Vicente Padilla.

Eric Gagne was signed to close games out in Arlington, which means that their primary closer from a year ago, Akinori Otsuka, will move back to the setup role he had mastered in San Diego in 2005. If Gagne can stay healthy, this bullpen can be a huge help for the Rangers' staff.

Sammy Sosa signed a minor league contract with Texas this winter, but the odds of him making the team as the right fielder or designated hitter are slim considering he hit only .221 in his last year in Baltimore (2005).

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