JOBA

We keep hearing about these 140 precious innings that Joba Chamberlain is going to be allowed pitch this year and everyone seems to have their own opinion of how best to use him in relation to his limit. Instead of thinking of something new to talk about i’m just going to let the world(well, about the 50 people who actually visit this site – please tell your friends about it) know my thoughts on this subject. To me, these seem to be the facts of the case -

1 – There are more dangers when it comes to a pitchers health when they are in the rotation instead of the bullpen

2 – We know Joba can pitch amazingly in relief, we think he’ll pitch well in the rotation.

3 – The Yankees are very thin in the bullpen.

4 – The Yankees are well stocked when it comes to starters

Surely this all adds up to using Joba in the pen all year? I mean, who remembers the days of Rivera in the 7th and 8th and Wetteland in the 9th? We can have a new version of that in 2008. Can anyone honestly say that they would prefer the uncertainty of Joba being in the rotation with Kyle Farnsworth being the bridge to Rivera over Moose or Karstens(not Igawa!!!) starting with Joba pitching 2 innings in relief every few days?

Lineup for tonight’s game @ Houston (Kissimmee)

It’s a mixture of youth and experience for tonight’s lineup against the Astros;

1. LF – Johnny Damon

2. CF – Melky Cabrera

3. 2B – Robinson Cano

4. DH – Shelley Duncan

5. 1B- Morgan Ensberg

6. 3B – Wilson Betemit

7. RF – Jason Lane

8. C – Francisco Cervelli

9. SS – Chris Woodward

The pool of pitchers features;

- Mike Mussina (slated to pitch 2/3 innings)

- Jeff Karstens

- Steven Jackson

- Daniel McCutchen

- Edwar Ramirez

- Mark Melancon

Will be interesting to see how Ensberg does at 1B….not that he can really be expected to match up to the output of Giambi and Duncan from the last couple of days…

Keeping it in the family.

Yesterday’s piece in the NY Times by Jonathan Mahler does a good job of laying out a large part of the new organisational structure that is controlling the team. The piece goes a long way to show just how comfortable the new bosses, especially Hank, are in getting their feet under the table within the upper levels of the organisation.

No matter what I read about the new structure, I can’t seem to help but think of the Corleone family… I’ll leave that to your imagination to work out the who’s who on that one…

It is interesting to read about the emerging future strategy for the organisation, and the belief that the team needs to be maintained as a strong contender on a virtually permanent basis. With $1.2 billion sunk into the new stadium, it seems that the team really couldn’t afford another decade like the 80’s anyway!

On the whole though, I’d be inclined to lean towards being optimistic about the future under the ‘new regime.’ If this off-season, and the Santana sweepstakes have shown us anything, it’s that the impulsive one (Hank) seems more willing to listen to the advice of those around him, and even to delegate authority for making final decisions than George has been over the years. So long as he is surrounded by more level-headed people when it comes to decision-making, this should really serve to minimise the rash moves we see (although as with his father, I’m sure Hank will still keep on providing the media with good copy, as this past weekend has shown!).