It's old news that teams worried about Chamberlain's health and consequently allowed him to drop to the sandwich round. It's no secret that Brian Cashman and Damon Oppenheimer have instituted a draft strategy which covets high-risk high-reward athletes. Enter, Joba Chamberlain, Andrew Brackman, etc. However, teams suddenly proclaiming Chamberlain's knee and shoulder as time bombs seems to be exaggerated wishful thinking and is news to me.Teams passed on Chamberlain in the draft because of health concerns, not because they feared he would be too expensive to sign. Chamberlain underwent surgery on his left knee during his sophomore year at Nebraska and missed time with triceps tendinitis in the spring of his junior year. Some consider his physical demise inevitable.
Chamberlain is a large slab of beef, 6-foot-2 and 230 pounds, and he puts pressure on his left knee pushing off the mound. That knee, one rival scout predicts, will “eventually be torn to shreds.” A rival general manager says, “His shoulder or knee might not hold up in either role.”
Thus, the Yankees should get the most out of Chamberlain while they can. As a dominant setup man, he represents insurance for Rivera, who is 38 and signed through 2010. Few teams, if any, possess such a potent late-inning combination in their bullpen.
Sometimes doing the right thing means doing nothing at all.
Sour grapes or a tough injury pill to swallow? So far it appears to be the former, though time will always tell.
No comments:
Post a Comment