Saturday Liftoff Links

While Jordan Lyles was again trying to secure his first Major League victory I was putting these links that are full of win.

Trade Talk is Heating Up

What the Astros Have in the Cupboard | FanGraphs Baseball
Joe Pawlikowski takes a look at what the Astros can offer on the trade market.

Trade Bait: Wandy Rodriguez - Baseball Nation
Should the Houston Astros trade Wandy Rodriguez, a fan-favorite who is locked up through 2013?

The All Star Game is Almost Here

2011 MLB All-Star Futures Game Roster Review: World Team Hitters - Minor League Ball
John Sickels takes a look at the World roster for the upcoming futures game and yes Jose Altuve is covered.

Bloated rosters, managerial decisions hurting MLB's All-Star Game - Tom Verducci - SI.com
Verducci has some ideas for the All-Star game and I kind of agree with him. Agree, disagree or just flat out don't care. Did I mention there will be a lot of All-Star Game talk in the next podcast?

Around the Baseball World

Which Team is the Most Popular in Baseball? - Beyond the Box Score
An interesting method to finding out the most popular team in baseball.

The 5 Worst Recent MLB Contracts for Position Players
I'm shocked Carlos Lee didn't make the list, but there could be a few reasons for this. Rob Smith forgot about Lee, he's an Astro fan, or he was focusing on contracts lasting longer than Lee's current contract.

Scrapheap Stars | FanGraphs Baseball
An interesting tidbit about a player on the Astros who could be a trading piece that we're not talking about.

Joe Blogs: The Cradle Of Managers
Lot of good and bad talk in regards to Mills lately. This story doesn't really apply but I thought it was a nice story to read in regards to managers.

Evaluating catchers: Framing pitches - part 3
Max tries to further improve his estimate on runs saved by virtue of framing pitches. This is something we've been discussing a bit in the comments.