Here we go again is Joba Chamberlain more valuable to the yankees as a starter or a setup man. Am I the only one that thinks this is a waste of time? Joba has proved he can be dominant as a reliever ( 2.30era last season) but he has also shown he can dominate as a starter (2.76 era in 12 starts). Now which would you rather have a dominant starter or reliever? I'd choose a dominant starter for several reasons. Joba Chamberlain can be an ace and is likely the future ace of this staff. In fact after this season he may be the best pitcher on this staff even with guys like CC Sabathia, A.J. Burnett, and Chien-Ming Wang thats how good he is. Another note that is useless to say is that 200innings of great pitching is better that 70 innings of greatness. He has not yet showed that he can be good as a starter over a whole season but Joba is'nt just any other pitcher, in fact I am very confident that he can have atleast an ERA under 4 this season. His fastball and slider destroy hitters, oh and sometimes we forget he does have a plus curveball and changeup. It is only a matter of time before we talk about Joba being a Cy Young candidate maybe not this year but I'm sure if he stays a starter he will win atleast one, with several years of being considered for the award in the future. It is so hard to come by great pitchers nowadays that it would be stupid for the yankees to waste his value as a reliever. Why do u think the yankees signed CC or AJ? Every team wants pitchers who can average 200 strikeouts and 200innings a season, it's not as though these type of guys come by everyday. Relief numbers like Joba's are easier to find. (not easy but easier).
I think the yankees bullpen will be fine, not because I have confidence in guys like Phil Coke, Edwar Ramirez, David Robertson and so forth, most relievers are too inconsistent to be able to trully tell how good they are going to be every season. The only relievers that I have trust in for the upcoming season are Damaso Marte (very good and seasoned track record) and needless to say Mariano Rivera. In fact the only way you can assure having a good bullpen is by having a lot of arms down their (majors and minors). Which is something that the yankees boast, power arms at that. Look at this list and tell me why we should waste Joba as a reliever:
Bullpen - Mariano Rivera
- Damaso Marte
- Jose Veras
- Edwar Ramirez
- Brian Bruney
Fighting for jobs in spring
- Phil Coke
- David Robertson
- Jonathan Albaladejo
- Humberto Sanchez
- Mark Melancon
- Dan Giese
- Steven Jackson
The yankees will be fine in 2009 bullpen wise. As for Joba hopefully his legacy is just begining. Stop by tommorow for AL East related information , enjoy.
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