2004: 162 innings of 4.59 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP, 98 ERA+, 132 K’s to 40 BB’s, 21st best ERA in the AL, behind Mike Maroth, Carlos Silva, Ryan Drese and Jon Leiber.
2005:179 innings of 4.41 ERA and a 1.37 WHIP, 96 ERA+, 142 K’s to 47 BB’s, 28th best ERA in the AL, behind Kyle Lohse, Bruce Chen, Paul Byrd, and Gustavo Chacin.
2006: 197 innings of 3.51 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP, 129 ERA+, 172 K’s to 35 BB’s, 4th best ERA in the AL.
2007: 152 innings of 5.15 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP, 87 ERA+, 91 K’s to 35 BB’s, didn’t qualify for the ERA title. If he had, he would have had the 4th WORST ERA in the AL, behind Brian Bannister, Boof Bonser, Miguel Batista, Chad Gaudin, Tim Wakefield, and Julian Tavarez.
Yeah, he’s a real beast. Do you think the 2006 season was a statistical outlier, or is that the vintage Mussina that we can expect this year, now that he’s about to be 39? Don’t you think that anybody who thinks that he can approximate his 2006 season should have his head examined?

If you’re one of the “he’s gotta be a starter….. someday” crowd, you think that he might be worth 16-20 wins a year for 10-12 years, and you hate to see that kind of arm wasted on 75 innings or so every year if he becomes a closer.

If you like him as a closer, you’re thinking “Geez…. if he becomes a starter, throws his arm out tossing 200 innings per year, would that have happened if he were in the bullpen?”

If neither of those occur to you, then maybe you’re just going on prior performance and imagining what he might do in the future.

But no matter what your opinion, there’s no guarantee he’ll pan out no matter which way the Yankees use him, long term or short term.

Personally, I think he got a taste of being the big shot, and not in a bad way — crowds cheering, only having to perform for an inning, maybe two — and maybe he developed a real taste for relieving. You gotta admit, he took to that spotlight with no hesitation whatsoever, his aww-shucks-Nebraska roots notwithstanding. And that fist-pumping exuberance won’t play over seven innings as a starter. Maybe he just wants to be a reliever now. Sure seems that way to me.

wow, 197 innings of 3.51 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP is now “crap”. tough crowd.

129 ERA+. 172 K’s to 35 BB’s. 4th best ERA in the AL.

total garbage.

a) Splitting up Joba’s season into half-pen, half-starter is a recipe for disaster. Even if he doesn’t overextend himself physically and get hurt, which is very possible, you’re throwing away a half season of development for him as a starter. Am I the only one worried about his comments about his pacing and approach? I don’t want him thinking about dialing it up and dialing it down, I want him learning how to be a frontline ML starting pitcher.

b) As has been stated, the eighth inning counts the exact same as the third inning, but here’s the rub: there are a few eighth innings that matter less than others - eighth innings in April and May. If you really wanted to use this inane split-season concept because Joba was so dominant in the uber-important eighth inning, have him start first and move to the pen second, when the pressure is really mounting.

c) We don’t have 6 starting pitchers. We have FIVE. Mike Mussina is not a true starting caliber pitcher anymore. He’s been crap the last two years, his velocity and control are down, and he’s a headcase. This whole “start-in-the-pen-and-move-to-the-rotation” is predicated on the concept that there’s no room for Joba in the rotation now, but there will be later, which means that one of the other 5 starters will have crapped out and sucked so bad that he needs to get pulled… and that’s CLEARLY Mussina, and nobody questions that. So if we’re all counting on Moose to suck up the joint and open a spot for Joba, why wait for the dreck to occur? Put Joba in the rotation where he belongs. Moose is the longman, and he’s the insurance incase someone gets hurt or is ineffective (and the spot starter when we want to rest one of the youngsters). If this hurts his feelings, tough titties. Nice guy? I don’t give a s–t. Good father? F–K YOU, GO HOME AND PLAY WITH YOUR KIDS. You wanna work here? Do what you’re supposed to do. It’s a team, and you’re making 11 million dollars. Do your job.

d) There are other, much better ways to cap innings. Have Joba, IPK, and Hughes all have 3 or 4 turns skipped in the rotation. Pull them early when they’re ineffective. With Moose, Igawa, Rasner, Karstens, and Chase Wright all available as cannon fodder, we’ll be able to pitch the Triumvirate less without taxing the pen, and the April/May/June months - plus the stretching out/resting bumps and bruises/setting up for the postseason times in September - are great times to throw an occasional bone to Jeff Marquez, Alan Horne, or Steven White. Hell, I’d be more comfortable going with a 6 man rotation for a month if you absolutely have to start Moose… even though he hasn’t proved that he deserves the courtesy.

e) Not only are you unecessarily screwing with Joba’s development, you’re pushing back the timelines on Scott Patterson, Ross Ohlendorf, Chris Britton, Edwar Ramirez, Jose Veras, J.B. Cox, Mark Melancon, Kevin Whelan, Dan McCutchen, David Robertson, Humberto Sanchez, etc. etc. We have a ton of quality young arms who are (with the possible exception of Sanchez) unquestionably destined for ML roles in the pen, not in the rotation. Why take 20-odd bullpen appearances at the beginning of the season and give them to a guy whom you’re not planning on using in that role come September, when you have a whole lot of quality spaghetti you could be throwing at the wall in meaningless games against the Royals and the Rangers? We’re paying Mo Rivera, Latroy Hawkins, and Kyle Farnsworth good money to be the back end of the bullpen; let Hawkins and Farnsworth divvy up the 8th in the early big game situations and see if one of them can nail it down. Pitch all the other, non-Joba young guns in all the other pen-appearances, and see what works. And come July, if the pen is a disaster, you could either make a trade, or… wait for it… move Joba to the pen!

What a concept.