I can't believe we're still having this conversation. I can forgive LTS, he only said he's wavering, not changing his stance. Don is clearly a lost cause. All the papers are going to play the same story until Joba goes out and throws consecutive perfect games. Why? Because there is probably a 2-1 ratio of Yankees fans who eat up everything the media feeds them to those who know what they're talking about. As for the stupid (and I reserve the use of that word for special occasions) reference to Joba being a #5 starter rather than Mo's setup man in that article, it's temporary. It's kind of hard to justify making a guy who doesn't even have half a season's worth of starts to his name in front of 2 guys who are in the Cy Young hunt every year, as well as a guy who when healthy can dominate. Could he be the #4? Sure. Right now, I'd say he's probably got the potential to win 3-5 more than Pettitte. Does that mean he should be the #4? No. By being the 5th starter he can build his innings slower. (Read: stay healthy longer.) Joba could legitimately be the #3 starter on this team right now ahead of Burnett and Pettitte. But why? He's a helluva #5 guy, and I'd say it's a pretty good "problem" the Yankees have in their rotation right now.
Seriously, folks. This isn't rocket surgery. The #X starter designation is a little silly. The only reason Joba is called the #5 has nothing to do with talent, expected performance, or the team's plans for him. It has everything to do with innings management. If it weren't Joba in this position, it'd be Hughes, whose innings will also be capped this year. Maybe the Rays should make David Price a closer. Look how well he did last year out of the pen. Or, since everyone is so worried about potential injuries, maybe the Yanks should make Burnett the eighth inning guy. I bet he'd be sick setting up Mo. And according to the "wisdom" around here, he'd be healthier for it.
I've also said that all along. If he ends up hurt again this year, all the talk can stop and the decision will be easy to make.
Not Yankee related but Sheffield was just released with 499 HRs. Wonder if he will get another shot or not.
I swear you are the only one (oh..except Cappy) who refuse to acknowledge the chance of this being a disaster. Her's another mention of it today...it isn't like all of these people are wrong.. "Moving Joba Chamberlain into the rotation could result in his having arm problems down the line. And if the Yankees bullpen can?t get games to closer Mariano Rivera, look for Chamberlain to go back to his set-up role." http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/29944872/
I'll say it again. As a Red Sox fan, I can only hope Yankee management is stupid enough to move Chamberlain to the bullpen full time.
Be careful what you wish for. They can replace him in the SR with anybody they want. On the team now or not. What they can't seem to do is get a lights our setup guy. They didn't have one before him and they haven't had one since he joined the rotation either...seems most teams have that problem. The Yankees won rings when it was Rivera and Wetteland, and then Rivera, Nelson and Stanton. They haven't had those type of late game relievers since.
You are so backwards on this it's not even funny. They won when the rotation was the best in baseball. It's FAR easier to find a setup reliever than a dominant starter. The reason the relievers are in the bullpen in the first place is that they weren't good enough to be starters. Obviously there are some exceptions, like Papelbon and such, but for the most part all relievers are are failed starters.
Chamberlain has 4 k's through 3 inning and no runs today....and a 3 ERA for the spring.....whats the argument even about?
Dude, but in the pen, it'd be one inning and TWELVE K's. And he would throw 105 mph! And Don, why is this hard for you to understand? Of COURSE there's a chance that it ends in disaster. There's a "chance" with everything. The point is that there is little reason to believe that the chance of it ending in disaster is any less out of the bullpen. Please. Tell me why he'd be healthier out of the pen. He might throw less total innings, but would not have regular rest, could be called on for back to back days, and (although I'm not sure I buy this idea) would be pitching "high leverage" innings, which might put more wear on the arm. There are two sides to this health argument. And given the options, I don't see how you would want to take your chances (which you'll be taking either way) in a position where he's less valuable to the team. By that logic, we should bat Teixeira ninth, so he has less ABs and therefore risks getting hurt less often.
Wavering might even have been too dramatic of a word for me to use, and I fired off the post a little quickly. More elaborately, I would be worried about Chamberlain's future in the rotation if, and only if, he starts demonstrating an inability to maintain plus velocity (obviously not expecting the high 90s as a starter, but he needs some juice still) or has durability issues. I read something about him having an inauspicious medical file coming out of college. It's a shitty thing to base an opinion off of, from my perspective, in hindsight.
It wasn't that inauspicious... just inauspicious enough that he would fall to the Yanks in the first round, instead of being scooped up earlier. And as for his velocity, he's hit 96 this spring on occasions... which I think everyone would be fine with as a starter. (Not many starters throw harder than that.) It's the end of March, and it's mechanical. Come get me if he's throwing 88 mph in July. My recommendation for everyone in March is, take a deep breath. Relax. It's a long season. We're not going to know all the answers from a spring training start or two. But we know the talent is there. We know he can dominate ML hitters as a starter. You have to give him that chance. Otherwise it really is no different than batting Teixeira ninth.
You really want to put Joba in that group? I know you're being sarcastic...But that's not even funny.
