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Penned In?

Pat Borzi has a post over at Bats about Joba Chamberlain’s Yankee future…as a reliever.

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13 comments

1 weeping for brunnhilde   ~  Mar 28, 2010 9:10 pm

Wow.
So that, it would seem, is that.

2 Mr. OK Jazz TOKYO   ~  Mar 28, 2010 9:24 pm

Seriously...why do other teams develop young pitchers and the Yankees do not? This Joba situtaion is pathetic..put him in the damn rotation let him throw 200 innings and see what happens!! If he's 8-12 with a 4.80 ERA at the end of the year then demote him to the pen, the Yanks are going to win a lot of games anwyays...maybe I am just not smart enough to see what's going on but from here looks like management has just blown it big time with Joba...

3 The Hawk   ~  Mar 28, 2010 10:06 pm

[3] I'm with you 100%. Jeter summed up my feelings pretty well - thanks Jete! - but nonetheless it seems perverse to go to such lengths to prepare Chamberlain for a full season as a starter then abandon the idea so completely.

But if they're going to put him in the bullpen now it might be best to just leave well enough alone. I can't imagine it would do Joba any good to start yo-yoing back and forth again. They may have already screwed up his fragile noggin as it is.

4 Cliff Corcoran   ~  Mar 28, 2010 10:55 pm

Kill the outrage. This is much ado about nothing. Cashman today via Marc Carig of the Star-Ledger:

"We all can have various views," Cashman said. "From my perspective, he's going to be a starter that's pitching out of the pen."

He lost the spring competition to Hughes. Anything can happen from here.

5 Chyll Will   ~  Mar 28, 2010 11:01 pm

I echo your sentiment, Hawk. Joba should be obligated by law to glean expert tutelage from Mo, especially on developing the cutter. It speaks for itself and may turn out to be the best move Girardi and Cash ever made.

6 a.O   ~  Mar 28, 2010 11:12 pm

This decision wasn't about Joba, it was about what will work best for the Yankees, as it should be. There is nothing wasted by the experts deciding that the better starting pitcher should have the fifth spot. Nor is there anything wasted by making sure a pitcher does not increase his innings count too much from year-to-year. The objective of the Joba rules was to keep him healthy, and it worked. Now for '10 he can be a force in the bullpen or re-enter the rotation if someone gets hurt. It could have been handled better, and I'm sure Girardi and Eiland learned from it and we will see the difference with Hughes if he sticks.

Regardless, Billy Eppler should keep his mouth shut.

7 Raf   ~  Mar 29, 2010 6:54 am

[4] I wouldn't say outrage, but the move is a bit confusing given last year, and teh injury history of Hughes.

8 Paul   ~  Mar 29, 2010 9:01 am

[4] I don't buy that for a second. They gave Chamberlain 15 mL starts, then 43 major league starts, now they're sending him to the pen for the whole season. With the way they treated Hughes last year, and Joba in 2008-09, there's no way he gets a start this season. So instead we'll see Mitre for at least 10 starts. Of course, Eppler is Cashman's top aide. The only reason he shouldn't have spoken is because it hurt Joba's trade value.

It's time to trade Joba. This organization doesn't want to develop him. They want him to be a reliever. That's an utter waste. From Halladay to a middle reliever - awesome.

9 Paul   ~  Mar 29, 2010 9:02 am

[2] There are now more Yankee pitching prospects starting for other teams than are starting for the NY Yankees.

10 The Hawk   ~  Mar 29, 2010 9:58 am

[4] Outrage?

11 The Hawk   ~  Mar 29, 2010 10:00 am

[8] "From Halladay to a middle reliever – awesome."

If that were accurate I'd be appalled but come on now. Hyperbolate much?

12 Paul   ~  Mar 29, 2010 10:32 am

[11] Wouldn't he have fronted that package? Did the Jays get anyone better? Isn't he a middle reliever now?

[9] I should have said starting pitching prospects. That wouldn't bother me much, except i expect to see Sergio Mitre start more than 10 games this year.

13 The Hawk   ~  Mar 29, 2010 12:09 pm

[12] Oh from the way it was written it seemed like you were saying that Chamberlain himself was Halladay material.

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