I'm back from my vacation and I've got some links that I managed to read while I was on vacation. My thanks to David for covering
Ripples of the Trade Deadline
No, I’m not done complaining about the Astros, are you? | King Solomon's Mind | a Chron.com blog
Jerome Solomon has some complaints about the Astros trading their players and he has a fair point. I wasn't entirely on board with trading some of the Astros younger pieces but I understood the reasoning behind it and I'm not all that upset about (excluding the Bourn deal) but I can see why some fans are.
Michael Bourn: Way Better Than You Know - Baseball Nation
Most of the ink went to Hunter Pence and the Phillies, but the Braves did better when they traded for Michael Bourn.
Who Gets the Scoop? Number of Correct, First Reported Deals in July - Beyond the Box Score
Each year, many reporters get in to the action by either breaking a story, adding in details or reporting a rumor. On Beyond the Box Score, Dave Gershman ranks each and every reporter by July deals broken.
The Houston Sports Counterplot, Ain't Got Much... But, Hell If There Isn't Hope.
A nice article on what it meant to see Pence and Bourn traded and a look at what the Astros received in return.
Ownership
Top 10 Worst MLB Owners of All Time
Nope Drayton doesn't make the list but it could give you a greater appreciation for him.
Minor Leagues
Appy Astros: Appy Astros G-Stros End of July Report
Appy Astros fills us in on what's happened in Greeneville for the month of July.
unless you caught the direct link to Thursdays link post you probably missed the links from Thursday so I'm re-linking some of them after the jump.
Why Major League Baseball Needs to Change its On-Deck Routines - WSJ.com
Major-league hitters have a time-honored routine of swinging heavy objects in the on-deck circle, convinced it improves their bat speed. Research shows, though, that it does the exact opposite. This is something we touched on in the podcast last year.
Joe Posnanski " Posts The New Code of Baseball "
Posnanski gives his unique point of view on the Jared Weaver incident this past weekend.
Billy Beane, Moneyball sage and A's GM, hurt by change in thinking - Tom Verducci - SI.com
Verducci looks at the changing landscape of how organizations are viewing young players. Hunter Pence and Michael Bourn fit that mold as young players with some control still left and the big reason why they were hot commodities this trade deadline.