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Projected Lineup (2003 stats) Pos. Player Avg. HR RBI SB CF Tike Redman .330 3 19 7 SS Jack Wilson .256 9 62 5 C Jason Kendall .325 6 58 8 RF Raul Mondesi .272 24 71 22 1B Randall Simon .276 16 72 0 LF Jason Bay .287 4 14 3 3B Chris Stynes .255 11 73 3 2B Bobby Hill* .269 7 44 9 *Triple A stats Projected Rotation (2003 stats) H Player W-L ERA WHIP RH Kip Wells 10-9 3.28 1.25 RP Kris Benson 5-9 4.97 1.55 RH Josh Fogg 10-9 5.26 1.45 LH Oliver Perez 4-10 5.47 1.63 RH Rick Reed 6-12 5.07 1.36 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

It's the same old song in Pittsburgh's perpetual rebuilding program, trading away veterans for not-ready-for-prime time players and then filling out their roster with the crumbs left at the end of free agency. The Pirates aren't going to win many games but if you pay close attention, you'll uncover a sizeable group of quality fantasy players.

The best Pirate to have this season will be left fielder Jason Bay. The main chip Pittsburgh received from San Diego for Brian Giles, Bay is a five-tool guy with 20/20 potential.

Jose Mesa is the favorite to win the closer job. Mesa saved 24 games last year but had a 6.52 ERA and unsightly 1.76 WHIP. The 37-year-old should be one of your last options among closers. Select him only if there is no other option.

Third Base. Non-roster invitee Chris Truby played 13 games for the Devil Rays last season, batting .279. He hit 16 home runs with Class AAA Durham and has played well this spring. Chris Stynes was penciled in as the Pirates third baseman after a season of inflated stats in Colordao, but he's been mired in a long slump this spring and has opened the door for Truby to steal the job.

Although he only stole seven bases after being recalled from the minors, Tike Redman can flat out fly. In 100 games at Nashville last year he stole 42 bases. Pittsburgh is going to have to scratch and claw to score runs this year so Redman will have a green light all season. Don't wait too long to grab him because as he'll be worth at least $20 in auction leagues.

Pittsburgh's done a great job of collecting failed closers, including former Tiger-Blue Jay-Yankee Juan Acevedo and ex-Oriole Willis Roberts, who lost his job to Jorge Julio in 2002 and suffered from nerve damage in his pitching elbow last season. Roberts has regained his velocity and probably will win the job outright.

Raul Mondesi says that he's going to have the best year of his career as thanks to the Pirates for keeping him employed in the big leagues. We're not too convinced that Mondesi has all that much left in the tank to contribute. Making matters worse is that Mondesi has a habit of disappearing when adversity strikes, and when the Pirates hit the skids in May, he may check out too.

Randall Simon, Kip Wells, Craig Wilson

J.J. Davis, Josh Fogg, Henry Rodriguez