What To Do With Joba Chamberlain

At one time, this was the most oft-debated question surrounding the Yankees. Now, it seems everyone is resigned to Joba coming out of the bullpen, in what seems like the 7th inning role.

Conventional wisdom notwithstanding, I propose we re-open the debate. Cold Case style!*

The "Joba Rules" are now legendary.  God bless the media for coming up with a retarded way to say "innings limit." Not surprisingly, this is where the wheels fell of the wagon for Joba.

Joba first burst onto the scene like a simile for things bursting. People lost their minds as he fist pumped his way to stardom while being proclaimed the heir apparent to Mariano Rivera. All along however, people who knew what they were talking about (you know, the people who don't rely on Mike fucking Francessa for their news) knew that Joba was a starter his entire career prior to being called up to fill a specific need at the end of the year.

He was awesome and electrifying, there is no doubt. It was ultimately his downfall, however. The media latched on to the idea of Joba as a dominant reliever. It became "stupid" and a "waste" to have him as a starter. Not every player has the "mindset" to pitch late in the game, they all said, and look how dominant he is!  We know he can relieve, we haven't seen him start!!

Despite the clamoring, the Yankees continued to say he was a starter and continued to treat him as such as they enforced the Joba Rules.

Then things happened. An injury. A young pitcher struggled. Shockingly, Joba was not as dominant as he was before. It's almost as if there was a random, small collection of information that people decided to foolishly project an entire career from. Disappointment abounded.

Then the Yankees got CC Sabbathia and AJ Burnett. The starting rotation was pretty set and Joba and Phil Hughes battled for the last spot. Phil won. Joba has since been up and down in the bullpen. Brian Cashman says a shoulder injury has affected him. The media say his head is "screwed up" because of the Joba Rules and being yanked around between starter and bullpen guy.

What do I say? I say the bullpen is a wasteland. Mistakes and heroics are magnified. While a starting pitcher has the opportunity to work himself into and out of trouble, relievers generally either work themselves into trouble and are pulled, or work out of someone else's jam.

Remember Kyle Farnsworth? I guarantee you Cashman was pissed about the Soriano signing because of Kyle Farnsworth. He was the best reliever on the market the year he signed with the Yankees. He was, generally, garbage for the Yankees. That's the deal with relievers. Feast and famine. Mostly because of luck. Mariano Rivera is Mariano Rivera because he is the only one who does not fit this mold. It is not normal. That's why he is special.

So, my theory is this: Joba is still Joba. He was scouted and drafted as a starting pitcher. He was rated as having four "plus pitches." That is pretty spectacular. As a reliever he uses maybe two of those pitches. The season, like an individual game, is a marathon for starters. Joba never really got a chance to work himself out of the trouble he got himself into. He floundered, got hurt and then came back as a reliever—again to fill a need.

The Yankees rotation is kind of a mess this year, while the bullpen is pretty solid. The seventh inning role is not a necessity. In fact, if you have a really good 7th inning guy, it probably means you have terrible starters. With Soriano Rivera (nice, right?) the 8th and 9th innings are locked up, so Joba would be at least the 7th inning guy.

Just like Joba was the odd man out of the rotation, he is the odd man out of the bullpen. So, it stands to reason that he should go back to the starting rotation. To fill a specific need. He won't have any innings limits or anything else to worry about. Just go out and pitch once a week at the back end of the rotation against the other teams scrub. With this offense there's no reason to think he can't get a few early wins, trick everyone into thinking he's "back" and go about his business.

Did Cashman really bring in Freddy Garcia and Bartolo Colon as legitimate contenders for a starting spot? Maybe he is trying to generate some competition for the obvious solution sitting in our bullpen. It just makes too much sense. That's probably why no one is talking about Joba as a starter anymore.

*No idea - just go with it.