Think of today's links as merely a warmup for all the links that will follow ...

* It strikes me as odd that we're still trying to figure out when baseball players "peak" ... but apparently we are, and Mitchel Lichtman's shiny new analysis is a worthy addition to the discussion.

* Big League Stew lists this decade's 10 biggest postseason disappointments. No major quibbles, really, except I probably would move the 2004 Yankees up a slot or three.

* Was Gary Matthews Jr.'s contract really as awful as it now looks? Maybe not (though I think the argument is bent over backwards to cut the Angels more slack than they deserve).

* Bob Keisser suggests that Bud Selig is at least partly to blame for the Dodgers' ownership mess, which I bring up mostly because just a few hours ago, I dreamed that Bud Selig and Sandy Alderson came to my house to check out Alderson's new office, in the basement of my rental house. (Hey, you figure it out.)

* A bit of good holiday news: Ernie Harwell is still kicking, and still writing beautifully.

* I've never written anything as brave as this, but I don't suppose it's been for lack of opportunity.

* John Royal offers a primer on the Astros' rollicking decade.

* Santa brought me a Kindle for Christmas. I've always been a bit skeptical about e-book readers, but after a few days with my Kindle (and Jonathan Lethem's latest novel), I'm wondering how I ever lived without it. (Also, I noticed that a few of my books are available in the Kindle store. In case, you know, you got a Kindle for Christmas, too.)