Link Dump: The Boss, Fifth Starter, Joba

Here’s a few links as the workday draws to a close…

The Boss on Twitter

Twitter has undeniably changed the media and access to information over the last few years, but Buster Olney says the world missed out on what could have been the greatest Twitter account in the history of man: George Steinbrenner. Olney put together dozens of 140-character, Boss inspired one liners in his blog today, all worth a read if you have Insider. My faves: “Mattingly’s hair has gotten so long that he looks like one of the Beatles — one of their girlfriends, I mean.” and “AARON BOONE!!!!!! He is A WINNER!!!!!! The third baseman of the future for the Yankees!!!!!!!” I laughed.

The recent history of Yankees’ fifth starters

As we all freak out about Sergio Mitre potentially starting the season in the rotation, Paul Swydan at FanGraphs points out that the recent history of Yankees’ fifth starters is rather ugly. That group includes Shawn Chacon and Chad Gaudin and Kei Igawa and Sidney Ponson and a whole bunch of other forgettable guys since 2006, a group that combined for just 1.6 fWAR since 2006. Despite that, the team has been to the playoffs four times and won a World Series, mostly because their offense and bullpen have been good enough to get them to the October. Once you get there, the fifth (and sometimes fourth) starters go out the window.

Joba’s stuff as a starter

Much has been made of Brian Cashman’s recent comments about Joba Chamberlain not being the same guy since his 2008 shoulder injury, specifically as a starter compared to a reliever. Dave Allen at FanGraphs looked into the matter and found out that yes, Joba’s stuff isn’t the same as it once was, but notes that it declined across the board. It’s no better in the bullpen than in the rotation. This dead horse than been beaten into a bloody pulp, and I blame the media blamers.

Mike on the Beyond The Box Score podcast

I made an appearance on Beyond The Box Score’s podcast yesterday, which you can listen to right here. We talked about the state of the Yankees, touching on the bullpen, Jesus Montero, the starting rotation, the whole nine. Give it a listen, there some other great non-Yankee stuff in there too.