Carlos Quentin Headed to the Braves?

We've long discussed the possibility of the Atlanta Braves dealing from a position of strength -- their starting pitching -- to add a much-needed bat to their everyday lineup. Thursday, our old friend Peter Gammons of the MLB Network tweets that he's heard -- three times -- rumors including Braves right-hander Brandon Beachy and veteran outfielder Carlos Quentin.

Quentin would certainly help the Braves' offense, though he's merely adequate, at best, in the field. The White Sox's motivation for such a deal might be insurance against both injury -- to Jake Peavy and John Danks -- as well as the pending departure of soon-to-be free agent Mark Buehrle.

The Braves may prefer to cash in on the first half of right-hander Jair Jurrjens, instead, although he probably helps the Braves in 2011 more than Beachy, especially since dealing Jurjjens means Mike Minor or Julio Teheran has to be counted on in the rotation.

Stay tuned on this front, as the Braves are likely to be connected to any and every bat potentially available this month -- and next.

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Anthony Adams Wants to Stay with Bears

Whenever the lockout ends, and league business resumes, defensive tackle Anthony Adams will be a free agent. Potentially capable of manning the nose tackle spot in a three-man front, he could be set to cash in with one of the teams that deploy the 3-4 scheme, but if it were up to him, a return to the Chicago Bears would be the preferred outcome.

"I love it here, man. Hopefully I am back here," Adams said Tuesday, per Sean Jensen of the Chicago Sun-Times. "But we just have to see what happens. Maybe they're thinking something else. I don't know. You never ­really do know, and I don't want to be naive."

Other 4-3 teams will also be interested in Adams, which may drive the price up for the Bears; however, given Adams' comments, it would seem that the continuity of remaining with the same franchise will play a part in the decision-making process.

Top 5 World Series of Poker Preliminary Event Stories

1. Mercier wins again
Since '08 there's been one player who has stood out above the rest. Mercier won his second WSOP bracelet as part of his three-final table, five-cash WSOP performance.

2. Phil Hellmuth's run
There's no player who wants to win a WSOP bracelet more than Hellmuth and twice in the span of two weeks he has finish as a runner-up. Hellmuth has four top-36 cashes and more than $500,000 in earnings.

3. Ben Lamb
He's viewed as one of the top pot-limit Omaha players in the world and he has backed up that reputation over the past few weeks.

4. Matt Jarvis
It's one thing to make the November Nine and grasp the poker spotlight for your incredible accomplishment. It's another thing to back up your run with a WSOP bracelet, which is exactly what Jarvis did in Event 40.

5. Andre Akkari
Brazil is still celebrating Akkari's win. His victory in Event 43 was more than just a personal achievement. It was a victory for his country, which reveres him as a hero.

Per Andrew Feldman