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Projected Lineup (2003 Stats) Pos. Player Avg. HR RBI SB 2B Brian Roberts .270 5 41 23 LF Larry Bigbie .303 9 31 7 SS Miguel Tejada .278 27 106 10 1B Rafael Palmeiro .260 38 112 2 C Javy Lopez .328 43 109 0 RF Jay Gibbons .277 23 100 0 3B Melvin Mora .317 15 48 6 DH B.J. Surhoff .295 5 41 2 CF Luis Matos .303 13 45 15 Projected Rotation (2003 Stats) H Player W-L ERA WHIP RH Sidney Ponson 17-12 3.75 1.26 LH Eric DuBose 3-6 3.79 1.15 RH Rodrigo Lopez 7-10 5.82 1.57 RH Kurt Ainsworth 14-11 4.08 1.45 LH Omar Daal 4-11 6.34 1.75 FANTASY BASEBALL Sign up Today! • NEW! Baseball Commissioner Full service league management tool. $99.95 per league • NEW! Fantasy Baseball Conquer your league and take home the pennant. $19.95 per team • NEW! Salary Cap Challenge Select your dream team with a $75 million budget. $9.95 per team

To try and close the chasm between themselves, New York and Boston, Baltimore re-entered the big-money free-agency market and came out with three elite fantasy players in Miguel Tejada, Javy Lopez and Rafael Palmeiro, plus solid starter Sidney Ponson.

The AL's 2002 MVP, Miguel Tejada, had a rough start to 2003. He hit only .245 prior to the All Star break and at times looked like a shadow of the monster with a bat he was less than a year earlier. He rebounded by hitting .326 in the second half and played well enough to earn big cash from the O's. Playing in Camden Yards will be a boon for Tejada, who will be an annual candidate for 40 home runs and 120 RBIs for the foreseeable future. And with Lee Mazzilli running the team, look for Tejada and his teammates to be more aggressive on the basepaths than they've been in the past.

Javy Lopez is coming off an unprecedented season for backstops. He slugged 43 home runs and became one of three catchers with 40 home runs, a .300 average and 100 RBIs in a season, so there's truly no place to go but down. He won't have a bad year, but to expect a repeat of 2003 would be foolish given that he's playing in a new league and trying to concentrate on cultivating an inexperienced pitching corps.

Second Base. Brian Roberts and Jerry Hairston were scheduled to duke it out for the starting spot but the contest lasted but one inning in spring training, when Hairston broke his right knuckle on an attempted steal of third. The speedy Roberts, who led the Orioles in steals last season, will man the position for as long as Hairston is out and probably well beyond. Keep an eye on 5-8 Mike Fontenot, who impressed everyone in the spring with his hustle and surprising power.

Luis Matos has excellent speed. Given a full season he could break the 30-mark. Larry Bigbie hit .328 in the second half and showed some flashes of speed. He will be the O's starting left fielder, likely bat second behind Roberts, and could get 15 to 20 steals.

Julio has done a credible job saving 61 of his 76 career opportunities, but he's never been in anything close to a pennant race -- something the Orioles hope to experience well into the summer months. Should he falter, free-agent signee Mike DeJean, who saved 19 games last season for the Brewers (18) and Cardinals (1), would step in.

Melvin Mora is being asked to play third base on a regular basis for the first time since 1994, when he was in the Florida State League. Not blessed with great hands, Mora's biggest asset, speed, will be lost at third. Look for him to be moved off the position at some point this season, which will make it more difficult for either he, Bigbie or Matos to get at-bats.

Eric DuBose, Jay Gibbons, Rafael Palmeiro

Jack Cust, David Segui, B.J. Surhoff