Joba Chamberlain Arrested for DUI

Pure genius. What a retard.

Yeah, I read that too on ESPN

Well, he is just a kid, so I kind of feel bad for him.

But you mark my words on this kid (and no, Irish, I'm not just picking on him because he's a Yankee), all of this attention is going to RUIN him. Between Hankenstein's mouth, and the constant starter vs. reliever debate, and the pressure of playing in New York City, he's going to implode.

We'll see. I'm really excited to see how this kid does over the course of a 162-game season as strictly a starter

I still think it's a huge mistake to overwork Joba as a starter... someday he'll probably be our closer.

Only time will tell with that answer. I'm not saying they should over work him with 250+ innings. I say watch his pitch count most definitely, and I think in the long haul this'll be the right decision. Besides, I heard the next Mo is already moving his way up our farm system (I forgot his name though). Also, we have Humberto Sanchez who could be our 8th inning guy if not another starter.

...because it is a good idea to take someone that's been a starter his entire career and dominated and make him into a closer...

Joba is going to be a dominant starter. He's dominated every level as a starter. The Yankees bullpen is, unlike most of the team, solid. In three years, Rivera hands over the reigns. By that time, let's hope Chamberlain has won at least a Cy Young.

You mean like Dennis Eckersley, John Smoltz or, who's that guy with the Yanks, er, Rivera?

They ALL start off as starters (for the most part).

Then why was Torre so reluctant to use him so much?

Hopefully he'll come back and kick Cano square in the a$$

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Bowa a Dodger or Yankee in '09?

The Yankees will have a clearer idea of who their third base coach will be later this week. That's when Larry Bowa will meet with Dodgers brass to discuss his future. Bowa, who is the Yankees' No. 1 choice to replace Bobby Meacham, recently finished the first of a two-year deal to coach third for the Dodgers. Nevertheless, Bowa has an out in the contract. Bowa, the best third base coach in baseball, was with the Yankees in 2006 and 2007 but not retained when manager Joe Torre didn't return for the 2008 season. Instead, Bowa joined Torre in Los Angeles. If Bowa decides to stay with the Dodgers, the Yankees might turn to Mike Gallego or Dale Sveum.

Source: SI

Rivera was a mediocre starter. Joba has shown he can dominate at the major league level as a starter.

Smoltz was moved to the closer role due to injury/fatigue, and it was after a long career as a starter. Joba was moved to the reliever role because they needed a pitcher in the bullpen in 2007, not because of injury/fatigue.

Eckersley was a starter who declined and ended up prolonging his career as a reliever. Joba is a young pitcher who was a reliever out of necessity and is being moved back to his natural role.

Chamberlain should be a starter, especially with Rivera having career years at his age. The bullpen is fine. He belongs in the rotation.

That wasn't my point. My point was that they were all starters at one time or another.

As usual, I agree DJ. What do you think of Humberto Sanchez? Starter or bullpen? Triple-A or Majors?

Big surprise. Must be something in the water upstate.

What can I say? Great minds think alike

You missed my point. Unlike all of those other starters - Chamberlain can dominate at either the starter or reliever at his choosing. The rest were relegated to the bullpen because of injury or ineffectiveness.

Furthermore, in my humble opinion, you take an ace starter over a closer/setup man any day of the week.

DJ, your opinions are a lot of things. But they're never humble.

And the award for the Grossest Understatement in a Post goes to.....Pizzaboy!

How is that begging cup working for you, Ray?

Oh, I get it. You're not only bigoted against African-Americans when you post pictures of gorillas, but you insist on perpetuating a stereotype about the visually challenged as well. I'm sure that Governor Paterson would beg to differ.

And, by the way, making Joba a starter is a bad decision.

Can I just ask why? Do you feel our bullpen is in more shambles than DJ and I believe? If he is put in the pen, that's one less starting rotation spot filled. What do we do with that?

Again, I think Joba is more beneficial to us as a starter. We can't get a lot of use out of him in those 17-3 blow outs (but if he's starting he gives us a better chance to keep the game closer to then hand it over to the bullpen in the 6th, 7th or whatever inning)

I think that anyone who throws as consistently hard as Joba is at true risk of burning out that arm. He's already been injured once. With Mo retiring, I think he's a perfect set up man for innings 7 and 8, and then eventually to take over as closer once Mo retires, which is only one or two seasons away. He is definitely lights out.

There is no doubt that we need starters, but I do not think that Joba is the answer. If we re-sign Moose and pick up Burnett and Sabathia (if wishing only made it so!), then we would have 4 excellent starters. I think that Hughes has potential to be consistently good at some point.

I don't think we should re-sign Pettite, but that may be inevitable. Either way, if we can pick up two new starters, and utilize Wang (although he's not without injury problems, either) and Moose, then fill out the 5th spot with either Pettite or Hughes, I think we'd have a consistent rotation.

The bullpen has improved. Unfortunately, our lack of starting pitchers who could last more than a few innings burnt out too many potentially good guys over the last few years. Let's keep our fingers crossed for 2009.

You're the one who called me blind, Stevie. Maybe I should write my posts in braille for you?

And "making" Joba a starter is a pretty ignorant statement, considering he's always been a starter outside of his emergency stint in 2007.

Keep tapping that stick, sweetie! (Yes, I'm sexist as well.)

It's 3 years away. Joba's throwing motion is hard, but not kinsthetically rough on his body as, say, a Dontrelle Willis or a Francisco Rodriguez.

By that logic, having Joba as a starter would improve his durability since he would not be throwing as hard over the course of 6 innings as he would as a reliever over 1 or 2.



Even if we re-sign Moose he is a year-to-year player at this point, not long term. Burnett is Pavano pt. II. Sabathia would be great and exactly what we need. Hughes has only two pitches and has not shown the ability to stay healthy or pitch consistently at the major league level.

Unlike all of those above, Chamberlain actually a.) plays for us b.) plays exceptionally well and c.) is a long-term solution.

Without Joba, our rotation is Wang. That's it. Wang is the only reliable starting pitcher we have on the roster as of now besides Joba. Moving him to the pen weakens an already dismal rotation.

It's great Joba can be "lights out" but not if he's pitching in meaningless 7th and 8th innings because we have to trot out guys like Rasner and Ponson who give the game away in the early innings anyways.



Pettitte will be a cheap option as a back-end starter but can no longer be used as a #2. Wang's injury was a freak accident, not indicative of his previous injury history (which is relatively mild). Hughes has not shown he can pitch at the Major League level with any degree of consistency. Moose might not come back. We'll need to sign at least two pitchers to have a chance. Three, if we decide to hop on the extra chromosome toting bandwagon and move Chamberlain to the bullpen.



So you acknowledge we have a lack of starting pitching, and thus it's logical to take arguably our most dominant starter and move him to the bullpen?

And our rotation has been shit for the last several years. People hated guys like Randy Johnson but he did get wins. There was also bad signings, and bad luck too. Of course, in hindsight, you do the Santana deal a year ago simply because the players who would have been involved are now huge question marks anyways - Hughes will likely start the season in AAA, Kennedy is a veritable bust, Melky will be a bench player, and Tabata is now on the Pirates.

Maybe I'm not optimistic as some, but we can "cross our fingers for 2009" all we want but without a serious overhaul of this team during the offseason we are going to be pretty mediocre next year.

I understand where you're coming from now and that's a legitimate concern. I hope he doesn't burn himself out either but so far he looked good starting (I think that August injury was just a freak thing).

But again, my concern is with the rotation. Wang is (as of now) our ace. Say we do just what you said and sign CC and Burnett, that's 3 spots filled. Moose I think is going to retire and I agree, we shouldn't sign Pettitte. However, on the same token, we should learn from our mistakes last year and not rush Hughes (have him start at Triple-A and earn a roster spot). If we do that, then we only have 3 starters and still need 2 more. Again, that's why I think Joba has to start.

Lowe leaving out Yankees?

Rumors of a Derek Lowe-to-Yankees move this offseason started before the Dodgers were even eliminated from the playoffs. However, a recent article in The Boston Globe suggests Derek Lowe has the Boston Red Sox atop his list of places of interest. Lowe played with the Red Sox in the past, leaving in 2004 for the now expired contract in Los Angeles. The Boston Globe has this to say: Lowe told this reporter that while money is important, he wants to go to a quality organization committed to winning, and no organization, in his mind, fits that description better than Boston. Apparently Los Angeles is not entirely out of the question either, as Lowe will meet once again with Joe Torre to discuss a future role with the club.

Source: SI

Irish, I do understand our need for starting pitchers, but I think that, long term, it would be a mistake to have Joba be a starter. One season or two? I don't know. Maybe if we have no other choice, but I still think it's a mistake for him, which would ultimately be a tragedy for the team.

The same way it would be a mistake to start Josh Beckett, Jake Peavy, or Brandon Webb?

After all, they might get hurt...

Yankees will pursue Manny

Manny Ramirez doesn't fit the Yankees' desire to get younger and more athletic, but several industry sources believe the Yankees will make a serious push for the free agent to play right field next year. Though GM Brian Cashman says the top offseason priority is starting pitching, he did not rule out interest in the 36-year-old Ramirez.

Source: SI