Today's links were read from a script, but the occasional eye contact means I'm linking from the heart ...
* Remember all those devastating injuries the Mets suffered last season? Problem solved.
* From Matthew Pouliot, lists of Mark Shapiro's greatest hits and misses as Indians general manager. The lists aren't completely fair because Pouliot counts as a "miss" a deal that seemed perfectly fine at the time. In a sense, what's really being counted is lucky outcomes and unlucky outcomes (though the two deals with the Mariners did look like steals at the time, and still do). Anyway, he comes up with six hits and five misses, which means it's too early to call this one. We have to see what Matt LaPorta does, and what happens to all those prospects the Indians got from the Phillies last summer.
* Rogue's Baseball Index officially adds another classic baseball term to the lexicon.
* If you just parachuted in from Mars or something -- say, you've got a memory that lasts only four or five months -- you should probably familiarize yourself with the sad saga of Dontrelle Willis. Otherwise, your should probably spare yourself.
* Lots of prospect lists coming out lately, and John Sickels' book is available. Here's one page with consensus top 10 lists for every franchise.
(Glove slap: The Book.)
* Here's why owners don't want us to see their books. According to Jamie McCourt, Frank McCourt "keeps two of his sons on the Dodgers' payroll -- at a combined annual salary of $600,000 -- 'despite the fact that one is a graduate student at Stanford and the other works full-time for Goldman Sachs.'" The Players Association does have access to everything, but we don't. Just remember this, the next time an owner claims to be losing money.
(Hat tip: Craig Calcaterra.)
* Jay Jaffe writes about The Best Quilt Ever, which is up for auction tomorrow in Union, Missouri.