Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Columnists Want Joba In Pen

Completely unsurprising in its uniformity, is the shared opinion of most baseball columnists that moving Joba Chamberlain to the rotation is a mistake. Taking the George Washington Bridge at 4 o'clock could be a mistake as well, but if it's the smartest route toward your destination, how are you going to know unless you actually give it a shot.

Keeping Chamberlain in the bullpen this year means another wasted year in which Chamberlain hasn't thrown enough innings to become a fulltime starter next season. It's always funny to me to see those stubborn sports writers (not all of course) try out their crystal balls and pretend a setup man supercedes the contributions a frontine starter could offer.

It was especially enjoyable to hear one particular beat reporter contend the Yankees might have won yesterday had Joba been pitching and not Hawkins/Veras. Discard the fact that the Yankees were losing when the terrible twosome entered the ballgame, there have to be other relievers in the Yankees pen besides Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera. If New York was protecting a 1-0 lead in the eighth inning in which Hawkins and Vera's blew, there would have at least been a point to take seriously.

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