San Francisco Giants fantasy team preview

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But exactly where does management expect improvement to come from? The offense has lost 41 percent of its home runs from last season with the departure of Bonds, Pedro Feliz and Ryan Klesko, and the only significant offseason addition comes in the form of Aaron Rowand, whose own 2007 power numbers were greatly assisted by playing his home games at Citizens Bank Park. Plus, returning mostly intact is a bullpen that lost an NL-leading 33 games and was a primary reason for San Francisco's poor 39-55 record in one- and two-run games.

Maybe management thinks the best way to celebrate the Giants' 50th anniversary of their arrival in San Francisco is to have as many active players as possible who were actually alive the last time Willie Mays was on a major league roster, but we'd love to see this team clean house sooner rather than later and give players like Kevin Frandsen, Dan Ortmeier, Rajai Davis, Fred Lewis and Nate Schierholtz a chance to suit up on a regular basis. After all, to borrow and tweak a Branch Rickey line, they finished last with all those veterans -- they certainly can finish last without them.

Then again, why should we expect the Giants to take advice from Rickey, no matter how much sense it makes?

Top sleeper: It's easy to forget about solid but unflashy players on bad teams, but it's exactly this type of player that helps you win. And if you remember that your goal is to win, you won't easily forget Randy Winn. It's true that Randy is on the wrong side of 30, but I wouldn't exactly call 33 old, and his second-half numbers from 2007 jump off the page. Wouldn't you be happy with double-digit home runs and steals after the All-Star break from your fifth outfielder? Winn came pretty close to doing exactly that from July on, and his .314 average over that same time period was pretty nice, too.

Intriguing spring battle: Kevin Frandsen hit .370 last September, and the Giants are almost definitely going to find a place for him in the lineup. The question is, where? The most likely answer is at second base, where he has spent the majority of his major league time. That would mean veteran Ray Durham, in the final year of his contract, would be left out in the cold. But Frandsen has the ability to play third base as well, and with Pedro Feliz now in Philly, that position is certainly up for grabs. So the question seems to be, is Frandsen truly ready to play every day? If so, then the real spring training battle will be between Durham and Rich Aurilia, who would be the default third baseman if Frandsen takes over second. We're going to side with Ray doing just enough in spring training to earn a chance to go out with a little more dignity than his .178 average in the second half of 2007.

Platoons: The Giants were thinking about letting Rajai Davis take over in center field. Then they reached out to Aaron Rowand and that idea was scuttled. Dave Roberts turns 35 this season and he's not in the lineup because of his power. He's there to provide speed, which appears to be declining right along with his pitiful .156 average against lefties. That seems like the perfect opportunity to get Davis into the lineup, and it shouldn't take much playing time for Rajai to pay fantasy dividends. He managed to swipe 22 bases last season in only 190 at-bats. Even if he gets only 350 plate appearances, you could be getting close to 40 steals from him. Paging Howie Mandel … we'd like to make a deal.

Schedule preview: We hope the Giants have a good "frequent flier" rewards program because they are likely to spend more time this year in an airplane than out of the NL West cellar. The schedule-makers gave the team lovely itineraries such as Colorado-Florida-Arizona and San Francisco-Washington-Colorado in two different successive series, and from May 19 through the All-Star break, the longest homestand the team has is six games. It just doesn't bode well for a team expected to have as many as six offensive starters in the 30-plus crowd. However, there is light at the end of the tunnel for whoever survives until September: With only one road series against each divisional foe and the rest of the games at home, the team might actually have time to unpack their suitcases for a few days … before they empty out their lockers for the winter.

Fantasy stud: While nobody on this roster truly can be considered a fantasy stud, we'd be remiss if we didn't say something about Matt Cain. What's the difference between Cain and a top-10 pitcher like Justin Verlander? The innings pitched, ERA and WHIP are all pretty close, and Verlander had only a slight edge in K/9 (8.17-7.34) in 2007. So why isn't Cain able to anchor your fantasy staff? It's the wins, which have come few and far between for the Giants. Cain can't pitch much better in 2008, but the Giants have done little to improve upon an offense that gave him only 3.51 runs per start last season and a woeful 2.82 runs per game at home. While an extra clutch hit here or there might get Cain's record up to .500, he won't get anywhere close to the 20-win plateau. Thus, Cain remains on the outside of the velvet ropes, hoping maybe he'll be able to gain admittance into "Club Ace" in 2009.

Prospects to watch for 2008: We've already talked about Rajai Davis, but he's not the only contender for playing time in the aging Giants outfield. Fred Lewis has some speed, as well as a flair for the dramatic, belting two grand slams last season and also hitting for the cycle against the Rockies in May. Like Davis, Fred is out of options, which could lead to him making the team over Nate Schierholtz. Even though Schierholtz had 16 home runs at Triple-A last season, he failed to connect in 112 at-bats with San Francisco. However, his Arizona Fall League showing (.348 with four homers) could propel him into a legitimate battle with Randy Winn for playing time in right field. Odds are Schierholtz ends up being the odd man out to begin the season unless Dave Roberts performs poorly enough in spring training to warrant the Giants keeping all three youngsters and letting the veteran go.

Prospect to watch for the future: With a talented trio of outfielders already lined up, there's no room for John Bowker just yet. The lefty hit .307 to go along with his 22 home runs in Double-A but is still a year away from the majors. … It's a little unclear why Eugenio Velez's progress is being held back. The 25-year-old infielder/outfielder could easily be given an opportunity this season to showcase his speed on the major league level, but with Omar Vizquel's career slowly fading into the sunset, the Giants most likely will give Velez an opportunity to start at shortstop every day at Triple-A Fresno this season in anticipation of him taking over the position in 2009.

A.J. Mass is a fantasy football, baseball and college basketball analyst for ESPN.com. You can e-mail him here.

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• AJ Mass is a fantasy football, baseball and college basketball analyst for ESPN.com.
• Author; How Fantasy Sports Explains the World.