Fontenot Cubs starter at 2nd

Mike Fontenot has been named the Cubs starter at second base. He takes over for Mark DeRosa, who was traded to Cleveland in the offseason.

Fontenot is the projected sixth hitter, with Kosuke Fukudome in second and Milton Bradley fourth.

"I don't want to get caught with two left-handed hitters sixth and seventh or sixth and eighth at the tail end of the lineup," manager Lou Piniella said. "So 2-4-6 is a real nice way to break things up."

In his fifth year with the Cubs after being traded from Baltimore in the Sammy Sosa deal, Fontenot never has been penciled in as a starter.

Fantasy Impact: If you project Fontenot's at bats over a full 600 at bats, he looks pretty good. Fontenot appears capable of 20 HR power, and he's capable of scoring runs (.395 OBP in 243 at bats last season). In the article, however, Piniella says both Fontenot and Aaron Miles will get 350 at bats this season. Miles will slide around the infield as a utility man, but will still steal time from Fontenot against left-handed pitching. Fontenot is therefore a later round pick in most fantasy drafts. He's valuable as a second baseman with pop who might start 5 or 6 days a week.

Hamels elbow exam

Hours after this fairly rosy review of Phillies ace Cole Hamels' velocity issues this spring, this far-from-rosy story on an elbow examination comes out.

According to several media sources, including the Philadelphia Daily News, Hamels will fly back to Philadelphia to be looked at by team doctor Michael Ciccotti after having steady soreness in the elbow.

However, team general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. indicated it is not presently a serious issue, and the team is taking a cautious approach.

Much was made about the 227 1/3 innings Hamels pitched -- not including his postseason innings -- last season. There may be some merit to those concerns. The young ace will have to be watched for the rest of the spring.

Baseball cards and web cams

In its never-ending quest to remain relevant, Topps is designing new baseball cards that come to life online in order to attract new, young card collectors.

Consumers who buy the Topps 2009 Series 1 deck of baseball cards for $1.99 have an option to pull the "magic" card from the deck, sign onto ToppsTown.com with a code, download a browser plug in and pitch, bat or catch in games served up from the Web site. The cards, which sport members of major league baseball (MLB) franchises, also are available through the Topps Attax baseball card game.

The consumer's Web camera pointed at the two-dimensional card laying on someone's desk or in their hand projects the picture of Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria to the computer screen, for example, allowing the picture of the baseball player to come to life in 3D.

The augmented reality technology from Total Immersion lives on Topps's server. It recognizes the image of the player on the card. One player from each baseball team has been digitized.

"Topps hopes to stir new excitement about baseball cards, particularly kids who tells us they like collecting trading cards but no longer rely on them for information," said Steve Grimes, chief digital officer, The Topps Co. "So, we want to give them new uses for the cards, whether that's 3D animation or playing games or unlocking other experiences online."

It's an interesting idea, but my guess is enthusiasm wanes rather quickly. Offering online games based on the cards and the players' statistics might be a better way to maintain interest, but that's what video games are all about. Good luck, Topps.

Playoff money

Ever wonder what kind of monetary benefit follows teams into the postseason? The Biz of Baseball tackles that subject today. Not surprising to see who leads the list in terms of money winners over the past ten postseasons, but then money earned seems directly tied to number of games played more than anything.

South Koreans wide awake for Mexico

So much for the jet lag. After Japan shutout Cuba, 6-0, South Korea turns around and thumps Mexico, 8-2 in San Diego. Now the Asian Pool A winners, who played each other just six days ago in Tokyo, square off to determine the first qualifier out of Pool 1 for the final round of the World Baseball Classic.

Three solo home runs paced South Korea, which defeated Japan 1-0 and lost to Japan 14-2 in the first round.