For the fourth straight season, Mark Prior won’t be breaking camp with Cubbies. This time, it’s opened the door for Wade Miller to make hay as Chicago’s fifth starter. In the final Offseason Lowdown of the season, we examine several other late-breaking situations that have allowed some unexpected players to have potential value early this season.

C.C. Sabathia insists he’ll take the mound Monday, leaving a possible Adam Miller arrival a bit premature for now; Scott Hairston will get a chance to prove he belongs with Carlos Quentin out; and one-time stud prospect Joe Borchard should get plenty of ABs in April.

Once you figure out how to tackle step No. 17 in the following trip plan, check in on this week’s Offseason Lowdown for plenty more fantasy baseball blurbs to help you get your 2007 season off on the right foot.

The problems with Andy’s Not-so-Dandy back earlier this week made me wonder if the Yankees could survive a major hit to their starting rotation. So in this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we put the pinstripers’ projected rotation under the microscope.

We also check in on the battle for the fifth starter job in Florida; and discuss the good news from the Angels’ camp.

If you’re seeking a distraction from your mourning over the death of Cathy Seipp (a woman who’s viewpoints we didn’t necessarily agree with, but she was proof that famous people can come from Winnipeg), try this week’s Offseason Lowdown on for size.

It sure didn’t take long for the St. Louis Cardinals to hit their first bump in the road on their quest to defend their World Series title. Manager Tony La Russa is expecting to begin the season without two-thirds of his starting outfield. Find out how the job opportunities might shake out in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Will Cristian Guzman be the worst regular in the majors this year? Could Sean Burnett be a sleeper once injury strikes in Pittsburgh?

So if you’re not so drunk that you’re actually figuring out ways to freeze your beer (uh, hello? That’s kind of a waste; you can be executed for that kind of behaviour in Canada), we explore these stories and plenty more in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

After a very forgettable season which saw the team get off to a 59-36 start yet somehow only win 86 games, the Bosox faced another winter of change. Several new faces have emerged, not the least of them being the next great Japanese sensation, Daisuke Matsuzaka. Here’s hoping he’s no fat toad and that he can become a key cog in the Bosox machine as the team looks to get back to the postseason in 2007. In this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we preview the Boston Red Sox.

We’ll assess their strengths and weaknesses; analyze their offseason acquisitions; discuss the key issue facing the team heading into 2007; identify their fantasy sleeper; project the batting order and pitching rotation; and highlight the team’s top two prospects.

We’ve got all of this and more in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Will firing Buck Showalter have the same effect on the Rangers that it did for the Yanks and D-Backs (namely, winning the World Series)? At this point, I’m sure they’d settle for their first playoff appearance since 1999 and in this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we see how close they are in our Rangers season preview.

We analyze the team’s strengths and weaknesses; check out the new toys they acquired in the offseason; answer the key question facing the club; project their starting lineup and rotation; and spotlight two of their top prospects.

Can Texas finally crack the two top in the AL West? Find out in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

I wish I had more encouraging news for Nationals fans, but I’m afraid it looks like 2007 will be a very long year. And sorry, there’s not a hell of a lot of help on the way from the farm system. But hey, watching Ryan Zimmerman continue to develop into one of the NL’s top hitters should offer some consolation, and John Patterson will definitely surprise more than a few people this year. In this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we offer up our 2007 preview of the Washington Nationals.

We examine the team’s strengths (such that they are) and weaknesses; assess their off-season acquisitions; identify the key question facing the team; project the starting lineup and pitching rotation; and highlight two of their best prospects.

Get the complete scoop on the Nationals in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

The Cubs spent plenty of money this offseason in the hopes that they’ll finally get over the Curse of the Billy Goat or Bartman or whatever dark forces conspire to keep them out of the World Series for the past 60+ years. Additions like Alfonso Soriano, Ted Lilly and Cliff Floyd will definitely help, but what this team needs more than anything is for its incumbents to stay healthy. In this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we try to determine how much Chicago has improved after last season’s debacle.

We explore the team’s key acquisitions, discuss its strengths and weaknesses, project the lineup and rotation, answer the key question facing the club and highlight some prospects that may soon show up at Wrigley.

We tackle all this and plenty more in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

The New York Mets came within a Yadier Molina home run of going to the World Series last year. What have they done to improve themselves since? We check in on New York’s offseason activity in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

We analyze the team’s strengths and weaknesses; discuss each major acquisition the Mets have made since bowing out in the NLCS; answer the key question facing the team heading into 2007; highlight their fantasy sleeper; project the team’s batting order and pitching rotation; and shine the spotlight on the jewels of their minor league system.

Everything you always wanted to know about the Mets’ 2007 season but were afraid to ask. You’ve got it in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

If you recall from the podcast I participated in earlier this week, the Bosox closer situation is wide open since the team wisely decided that Jonathan Papelbon would be better served as a starter. I decided this question deserved closer scrutinity in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

So who’s going to be racking up saves in Boston in 2007? We handicap the candidates and break down each pitchers’ chances of having instant fantasy value this coming season.

You can read all about it in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Unless you consider Gary Matthews Jr. and Shea Hillenbrand some kind of offensive panacea, or the team has got something up its sleeve still, the Angels will again enter 2007 without the second impact bat they so desperately need to complement Vladimir Guerrero. Sure, the pitching remains top drawer (after all, the Halos were loath to give any of it away), but is this club any better than the one that fell four games shy in 2006? In this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we explore the situation in Anaheim, er, Los Angeles.

There are several key questions facing the club, including who will play first, how Howie Kendrick will do as a full-timer at second and how the Angels will deal with injuries to Juan Rivera and Bartolo Colon.

We’ll tackle all these issues and plenty more as we preview the Los Angeles Angels’ 2007 season in Offseason Lowdown.

Yup, Sammy Sosa is back for another kick at the can. With a minor league deal from Texas about to be finalized, Sosa will be returning to the very roots of his professional career in an attempt to turn back the clock. Should we call up Sammy on his iPhone and tell him he’s too old for this stuff, or does he really have what it takes to become a fantasy asset again? In this week’s Offseason Lowdown, we take a close look at the situation.

We also check in on Carlos Guillen and Detroit’s efforts to ink him to an extension before he walks as a free agent at the end this coming season.

Read all about Slammin’ Sammy’s comeback attempt in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Tony Gwynn, Mr. Padre himself, has taken his rightful place in the Hall of Fame, so what better a time for Offseason Lowdown to turn its thoughts to the West Coast and check in on how San Diego’s offseason is going.

We examine the Padres’ current situation, assess their offseason transactions to date, project their Opening Day lineup and highlight some of their prospects. We also wonder what the hell they have to do to take the next step and get past those damn Cardinals.

You can get the scoop on the Padres and my fantasy sleeper pick for them in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

The Reds have sent Brendan Harris to the Rays; Jeff Suppan has officially become an overpaid Brewer; Terrmel Sledge could lead off for the Padres; and Atlanta may want more in return for Adam LaRoche than the Pirates are willing to part with.

We’ve got all this and the rest of the fantasy baseball news from around the National League this week in the Offseason Lowdown.

Randy Johnson could soon be on the move again. He’s requested a trade away from the Yankees and closer to his Phoenix home. We cover this issue in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

While the second part of the plan for the Yanks was to sign Barry Zito, that obviously won’t be happening as we reported, considering news broke after we filed our story that Zito was signed by the Giants.

The Angels finally did something quickly, reacting to Juan Rivera’s injury by swifty snapping up Shea Hillenbrand. We check in on that situation.

You’ll get all this and several other recent fantasy baseball stories in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

The Royals re-signed Brandon Duckworth to a minor league deal less than a week after non-tendering him. I guess he couldn’t find a better deal.

We cover these stories and several other fantasy baseball topics in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Apparently, the Playstation 2 was behind Joel Zumaya’s late-season wrist woes; Jerome Williams is running out of chances; and David Newhan was sent packing from Charm City.

We cover all this and a whack of other fantasy baseball issues in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Mike Piazza to the Phillies? I don’t think so. Philly says it’s not after him.

We cover these issues and plenty more fantasy baseball tidbits in Offseason Lowdown.

We also check in on how things are looking for Greg Maddux in his quest to return to the Dodgers.

Read all of this and a host of other fantasy baseball tidbits in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

I cover this topic and explore the great future that lies ahead for the Marlins in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

Are the Jays about to land the Big Hurt? Will Erubiel Durazo find his way back to the majors in 2007?

I answer all these questions and more fantasy baseball issues in this week’s Offseason Lowdown.

We’ve also got notes about San Diego’s new manager, plus the big deal it swung yesterday, and whether it might re-sign catcher Mike Piazza.

All this, plus a cornucopia of other fantasy baseball goodies awaits you in the Offseason Lowdown.