Badtz

Is there really an embedded quote limit? Because it seems to me like every thread I read has pages and pages of posts with tons of embedded quotes, sometimes as many as 7 or 8 with a one-line response at the end of it all. Sorry to complain, but it's one of the most annoying things on this board.. scrolling through 2 pages worth of stuff to read 2 lines of new information.

I live in Charlotte, and I don't see this happening. And if it does, I don't see it working out, for a few reasons. First of all, they are going to have problems getting a stadium built. The city council had to basically go against the will of the people to get the Bobcats arena built. During the final years of the Hornets, there was a referendum on building a new stadium, and it was defeated. Then, out of nowhere, a couple of years later the Bobcats arena was being built. That left a lot of bitter feelings among a lot of locals, and I don't think it will be so easy for a baseball stadium to be built unless it is totally financed with private money. Second, this is just not a very good pro sports town. Yes, the Panthers do okay. But that's because they are good right now. When the team is not doing well, the public support for the Panthers drops off very quickly. This is not Pittsburgh or Green Bay, where the fans love the team no matter what. The bottom line with fans around here is, going to sports is expensive, and they are not going to pay to see games unless they are going to see their team win.. and even then, it's a hit or miss proposition. Look at the Hornets.. they were actually good for their last few seasons, and they could barely pull in 5000 fans for a game. But when they made the playoffs, the stadium was packed to capacity. The Bobcats are doing a little better right now, but that's because the new stadium is very cool, and a lot of people are curious to see it and experience it for themselves. And finally, Baseball is just not that popular here. I know very few baseball fans in the area. The Atlanta Braves have a following here based solely on the fact that they are geographically close, but it only shows up when the playoffs start, and even then it's not that strong. For the Marlins to succeed here, they would have to be good out of the gate, and their games would have to be cheap.. otherwise, they would play a lot of home games to near-empty stadiums.

If the Rangers have a surplus of outfielders, why would they trade one away for another outfielder in Corey Patterson?

Wasn't Greg Maddux a product of the Cubs farm system? His career went ok.

Or, we could just play Patterson there, and bat him at the bottom of the order. Getting Tejada changes everything. With more speed at the top of the lineup, and a 3,4,5 of Lee/Tejada/Ramirez, the offense will finally be championship-caliber.

Who would the Cubs have that Baltimore would want? Certainly they're not just going to ask for prospects, they're going to want starting players in exchange for him. This isn't the Marlins we're talking about.

They could always widen the clubhouse door, that way his head could fit through.

Well, I'd agree with that, except that your example is simply ridiculous. He's not going to get caught 50 times, because that's stupid. He got caught stealing 17 times last season. Even if that's a bad percentage, he still outproduced our best base stealer last season by 42. Juan Pierre is the new leadoff hitter, deal with it. He may not be perfect, but he's not terrible, and he's a whole heck of a lot better than anything we trotted out in the leadoff spot last season.

Juan Pierre had 57 stolen bases last season. The Cubs, as a team, had 65. Derek Lee and Corey Patterson each had 15 apiece. Who really cares what Pierre's percentage is, the guy is finally going to provide speed and a basestealing threat at the top of the order. Outside of the short Kenny Lofton era, when was the last time the Cubs had anything like that on the team?

I agree with this. Everyone here cried and whined over getting Juan Pierre, a proven veteran who plays virtually every day, is well-liked, and is considered one of the better leadoff hitters out there. But here's Bradley, a guy with known character issues and history of injury, and everyone is desperate for the Cubs to get him.

I saw rumors earlier in the week hinting that Boston wanted to re-aquire Orlando Cabrerra to play SS.

From this morning's ATM report: