Lunch Time Link Dump: All Star Break Edition!

• Despite the 14 run whipping they received yesterday from the Phillies, The Atlanta Braves have a pretty solid team. COSFBA makes the argument that their talent puts them in the position to begin another dynasty run as they did in the mid 90s. They're absolutely right and the Braves team/organization is downright scary right now. But while the talent may be there, I would argue that the financial landscape of the game has created a situation where a team like the Braves really can't build a decade long dynasty without some serious elevated commitment from the owners. Great scouting and player development is what it takes to build a pitching staff like Atlanta has right now. Truck loads of burlap bags with dollar signs on the side is what it takes to keep those players. With guys like Heyward, Jurrjens, Hanson, etc are cornerstones of this team who will all be looking at hefty arbitration cases in the coming years. During those same years, the Braves will be paying 8 figure salaries to guys like Uggla, McCann, and possibly still Chipper Jones. For 2012, the Braves already have about $60M dedicated to only 5 players. If their payroll sits under $100M and they still can't draw more than 20,000 people into the stands despite being one of the top 5 teams in the game, what chance do they have of going much higher than that threshold?

• I was pretty intrigued by this Deadspin story last week about Barry Halper and his mostly fraudulent collection of merchandise. I had read stories in the past about the collector whose collection almost rivaled what was in the hall of fame itself, but this was the first I had heard about half of that collection being stolen, forged, or otherwise illegitimate. I even remember seeing some of these items displayed proudly in the HoF during my last visit. It's fascinating that someone could produce such believable forgeries and fool even the most astute authenticators. I'll definitely be checking out the "Hauls of Shame" book when it is released.

• Here's another guy living out my dream of a baseball road trip around the country. I did this whole "adult" thing all wrong by getting a job, buying a house, and getting married right out of college. I really should have just taken a few months of "me time" and driven around the country for a baseball season. Back then, gas was still reasonable and I didn't have all of these responsibilities!

• For a cool $205M, you could own your very own All Star Team! According to Off Base Percentage, that's about what this year's teams will be making. Of course, that just refers to this years starters in the All-Star Game, not the whole host of people who were elected but won't be playing... which is a whole other complaint of mine. Why do we bother calling these guys All-Stars if seemingly 1/4th of the league makes the team anyway? Some of these guys have rather hefty bonuses tied to making the team so when Shane Victorino and Ryan Braun come up limp, an outfielder who might have been #8 in the voting suddenly finds himself with an extra $75,000 in the bank. That doesn't sound suspicious to anyone else? And while I'm griping here, I've talked to a lot of people in the past week about the All-Star Game dictating home field advantage in the World Series. I don't like it, but I think "best record overall" is an even worse system. The leagues simply aren't balanced enough to think that having the best record is worthy of homefield advantage in the WS. More often than not, the team with the best record doesn't even make the World Series. I've been in support of what Ernie over at FenwayNation put up this morning: Use Interleague play records as the bar for home field advantage. This coming from an NL guy who wouldn't have had homefield in the last decade, too. The sample size is adequate and it adds a little spice to a series of games that has started to become a bit mundane. The novelty of seeing a new team is nice, but even I can't get too excited for the Oakland Athletics coming to town.

• Through The Fence offers some tips for making your significant other enjoy the game of baseball with you a little more. This pertains more to those of you who don't live in Philadelphia, where baseball is already the hippest thing around and Chase Utley in a pair of baseball pants is enough to make women flock to the ballpark. God forbid you live in Kansas City where the biggest star in town is Joakim Soria's eyebrows. Nicknames for players, "cute" t-shirts, and pop culture laden player antidotes have worked well for me!