11-24-2007, 02:31 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Pure Greatness
Join Date: Sep 2006
Location: Brooklyn, NY
Posts: 2,864
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Joba Not A Lock To Start Next Season
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Those who have seen him start strongly believe Joba Chamberlain can evolve into Josh Beckett and insist his greatest value to the Yankees is working every fifth day as a No. 1 stud. Others, who only witnessed Chamberlain bounce out of the bullpen and finally build a sturdy bridge to Mariano Rivera last season, believe the Yankees are nuts to delete Chamberlain from the bullpen.
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And the Yankees? A month ago, before Joe Girardi replaced Joe Torre and Dave Eiland took over for Ron Guidry, Hank Steinbrenner said Chamberlain would be in the rotation and that's the way the organization is tilting, but . . . “It's not 100 percent but I think we are leaning that way,'' Eiland said yesterday about using Chamberlain as a starter. “We haven't had long discussions on that part of it yet. I am sure we will in the near future. We are leaning that way and that's where we would like to see him.''
With a little under three months until pitchers and catchers report to Tampa, the Yankees have time to alter a staff that needs a bona fide No. 1 starter. If Andy Pettitte comes back or Johan Santana or Erik Bedard is acquired, somebody from the group of Chien-Ming Wang, Phil Hughes, Ian Kennedy, Mike Mussina and Chamberlain is going to get bumped. Kennedy, with three major league starts, could be sent to the minors, but what would be so terrible about using Chamberlain to set up Rivera? After going 2-0 with a 0.38 ERA in 19 big league relief appearances in which he fanned 34 and gave up 12 hits in 24 innings, the Yankees know his high-octane fastball and filthy slider can handle the late-inning role.
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