Saturday Liftoff Links

While the Astros were taking one step backwards after two steps forward I was putting together these delightful links for you weekend pleasure.

Trade Deadline

Prospect Trade Review: Jeff Keppinger Transaction - Minor League Ball
John Sickels gives his evaluation of the Keppinger trade and thinks it was a reasonable trade. Now that doesn't mean it was positive just sort of meh.

Report: Hunter Pence won’t be moved this summer | HardballTalk
Is Pence on the trade market or not. Who knows, everyone but me has got a source on this topic.

Around Baseball

League Average OPS by Position - Beyond the Box Score
I've been arguing in the comments that Jeff Keppinger is being undervalued. This link shows that the average OPS for a second baseman is .694 Keppinger has a .751 OPS.

Does It Matter If a Manager Was a Major Leaguer? | FanGraphs Baseball
An interesting article discussing Managers and whether Major League experience is vital in their success. While reading it reminded me of Cecil Cooper who actually had quite a bit of success at the Major League level, but still lost his club house as a manager.

The Astro Stuff

Prospect of the Day: Jose Altuve, 2B, Houston Astros - Minor League Ball
John Sickels with his evaluation of The Venezuelan Sensation.

Astros County: The Only Astros Blog That Matters: The $60 million question
AC breaks down the outlook on next years supposed $60 million dollar payroll. Four players will make $45 million of the payroll if they're not moved, two of which are possibilities while the other two are unlikely. My question to you is this a good thing or a bad thing? How is Crane going to lure a highly touted general manager to Houston if he's going to replace payroll. Maybe it has no effect but it's certainly not going to help and makes the position less appealing at least in the short term.