Fantasy Baseball Dugout

HAZARD: Tiger's divorce final

It’s over.

Tiger and Elin are officially divorced.

In January, we had our readers vote on whom was the fairest femme of them all and you voted Elin as Tiger’s Hottest.  In March, we wrote how Tiger would not win The Masters.  FBD reader Mountain Jack didn’t like the article and said so in the comments.  But, we were right.  Tiger didn’t win The Masters and he hasn’t even come close to winning anything else.

While we certainly are not commending any of Tiger Woods actions with the multitude of women, there is one area where we have to give him some props.  Of the 18+ women that are known to have liased with the golfer, none were married.  That’s right, Tiger Woods did not violate the unofficial rule between gentlemen that prohibits messing with another man’s wife.  Surely, Woods had opportunities with both single and married women; it was his sexting messages with single women that did him in.

The downward spiraling Cubs have sent first baseman Derek Lee packing to Atlanta which means opportunity for Tyler Colvin in the Windy City.

Who's on first?: Tyler Colvin

The Tyler Colvin experiment at first base is set to begin during the Cubs’ trip to Washington next week. Colvin has been taking ground balls at first base — a position that he hasn’t played since his sophomore year at Clemson.

“Colvin will play at first base and some in the outfield,” Cubs manager Lou Piniella said Friday. “I think on the road in Washington would be a good time for him over at first to see how comfortable he is and how he looks.  We can go from there.”

Colvin has had an impressive season as a part-timer and is one of the few bright spots in an otherwise horrid year for Piniella.  He’s hitting .249, but has shown considerable pop with 18 dingers and 42 RBI in a limited role.

The Clemson Tiger had a breakout junior year where he was .356/13/70/23.  He came out after his junior year and the Cubs plucked him in the first round with the 13th overall pick.  Colvin skipped right through Triple-A ball to come directly to the Cubs this season after spending last year at Double-A in the Southern League with Tennessee.  At Tennessee, Colvin swatted 14 homers and had an impressive .300 average.

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WALK OFF: Felipe Lopez after a game winner.

When the season began for the St. Louis Cardinals, they turned the third baseman job over to David Freese.  Mr. Freese, 26, did a good job.  He hit .296 with 4 homers and 36 RBI before surgery to repair torn tendons in his right ankle ended his season.

Enter utilityman Felipe Lopez.  Lopez hit a surprising .310 last year with Milwaukee and he cracked 23 homers back in ‘05 with the Reds.  But, Lopez has struggled mightily for the Cardinals.  He’s hitting only .137 in August and his .925 fielding average with 10 errors at third base is not worthy of a contender.  With the Cardinals mired in a 4 game losing streak, a change had to be made.

Last night, the Cardinals acquired Pedro Feliz, 35, who was doing nothing more than earning splinters on the Astros bench.  To obtain Feliz, who wears a 2008 ring from the Phillies, the Cardinals sent high-A reliever David Carpenter to Houston.  Carpenter, a converted catcher, sported a 2.36 ERA and 20 saves at Palm Beach in 49 games.

GLOVE MAN: Feliz's bat may deteriorate your fantasy lineup.

Feliz played a key role in the Phillies march to the World Series title in 2008 and the Cardinals hope that he can bring some of that swagger back to a Redbirds team that is now 3 1/2 games behind the Reds.  That being said, the Phillies could have picked up Feliz, but realized his skills were deteriorating and they needed more pop out of the third base position, despite some key hits for Philadelphia down the stretch and in the playoffs.

Feliz is hitting just .221 on the season with only 4 homeruns.  He was replaced in the lineup by Chris Johnson as part of the struggling Astros youth movement.  Since 2007, Feliz has the second best fielding average in the MLB at .967, but that too has slipped.  He’s committed 8 errors in 63 games this year for a .942 fielding average.  

In 2007, Feliz led the majors with a plus-27 at third base, according to Bill James Online. Feliz has been a plus third baseman every season of his career — expect for this season, when he’s a minus-10, according to the rankings at Bill James Online.  Feliz, however, is still an upgrade over Lopez at third defensively.

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Avalon, NJ — With just three weeks remaining, Lisa Dergan Podsednik may be on the verge of defeating Heidi DeRosa as Baseball’s Hottest Wife, according to the popular contest sponsored annually by Fantasy Baseball Dugout.

PODS: Lisa Dergan leads the 2010 Baseball's Hottest Wives Vote.

Dergan Podsednik is the recently turned 40-year-old wife  of Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Scott Podsednik, 34.  Ms. Podsednik is a former Playboy Playmate and was Miss July 1998.  Lisa is also a sports announcer for Fox Sports and was the St. Pauli Girl in 2003.  She has a degree in Art History from San Diego State, loves golf, and speaks fluent Japanese.

This is the third year that Fantasy Baseball Dugout has sponsored the Baseball’s Hottest Wives contest.  Baseball fans can vote on the web site or via text message.  Last year, over 70,000 votes were cast online and via text message voting.

In 2009, Heidi DeRosa, wife of San Francisco Giants infielder-outfielder Mark DeRosa, was named Baseball’s Hottest Wife for the second consecutive year.  Spurred by a ballot stuffing campaign from a St. Louis radio station (DeRosa played for the Cardinals in 2009), Heidi DeRosa received 63% of the vote and was named Baseball’s Hottest Wife in 2009 for the second consecutive year.

Lisa Dergan Podsednik is no stranger to the Baseball’s Hottest Wives competition.  The three time nominee finished fifth in 2009 and third in 2008. Her husband Scott is having a good year and was recently traded from the small market Kansas City Royals to the large market Los Angeles Dodgers has helped her vote tally.

“Lisa Dergan’s vote total clearly took off after Scott was traded to L.A.,” said Bob Bentz, publisher of Fantasy Baseball Dugout.  “Fans do like to rally around their local players and it doesn’t hurt that she’s incredibly beautiful and sexy.”

Emily Greinke, wife of Royals’ ace Zach Greinke, is currently in second position.  “Emily Greinke is an ex-Dallas Cowboys cheerleader,” said Bentz.  “Enough said.  She’s a strong competitor.”

Third is the two-time champion DeRosa followed by softball gold medalist Jennie Finch, wife of ex-Astros pitcher Casey Daigle.  Heidi Roberts, a model who has appeared in Maxim magazine is fifth.  Heidi Strobel Hamels, another ex-Playboy Playmate, is sixth.  Lindsay Clubine (Bucholz) is seventh and Saeko Darvish, wife of Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish of the Nippon Ham Fighters is eighth.

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Tom Gil Chevrolet, a dealer in Kentucky, is offering dinner with Pete Rose when you buy a new Chevrolet.

How’s that for an option?