4. Michael Barrett Chicago Cubs
Barrett was in the midst of his best season to date (.307-16-53 with .885 OPS in 107 games) before a very painful intrascrotal hematoma injury forced him to miss virtually the entire month of September. With more weapons around him in the lineup this season, the return of Derrek Lee chief among them, Barrett should be in line for another very good season.

Paulino was a very solid fantasy option at catcher over the final two months of last season (.309-3-27 in 46 games) and has the ability to take another step forward in 2007. The 6-foot-2, 240-pounder should hit for more power than he did as a rookie last season (.310-6-55 in 129 games). After all, we are talking about a 25-year-old who while in the minors the two seasons prior to last slugged a total of 34 homers over 810 AB combined between Double-A Altoona and Triple-A Indianapolis (.315-13-42 in just 77 games at Triple-A in 2005).

6. Johnny Estrada Milwaukee Brewers

Estrada bounced back from an injury plagued 2005 season with a .301-11-71 campaign that very much resembled his breakout season of 2004 with the Braves. He is expected to get most of the playing time behind the plate with the Brewers this season with Damian Miller spelling him occasionally. Estrada is a good bet to finish 2007 with something along the lines of .305-12-75.