Tom and I attended the Yankees' 10-6 win over the Tigers yesterday at chilly Yankee Stadium. AJ Burnett pitched decently for his 1st win, but not great. Derek Jeter had his first 2 hits of the season to bring his total to 2,928, Mark Teixeira had his 2nd HR in as many games, and A-Rod and Russell Martin had their 1st Homers of the year, Martin's a pivotal 3-run shot.
I thought this would be as good a moment as any to warn about Small Sample Sizes (SSS), the scourge of both GM's and Fantasy Players. The rule-of-thumb is not to fall in love with players in April and September, as the cold weather, lack of rhythm and unusual roster set-ups (i.e. too many rookies) tend to skew the data.
With that said, after 2 games, Russell Martin's skill set has impressed me. With hope that his surgically repaired joints have healed, what we have seen in two games is a catcher who knows how to take the lead in calling a game, proficiency at blocking balls in the dirt, a good track record in throwing out runners, and at least a notion with a bat in his hand. It is also most refreshing to see a Yankee catcher actually framing pitches. It's clear why both the Yankees and Red Sox had interest.
HIGH AND TIGHT
Now it's time for a little rant: The Godfather is my favorite movie, where the veneer of a movie about the mob that is actually based on the Medici family. It is enriched with nuggets of Sicilian wisdom, which in a book entitled "How To Really Watch The Godfather" that is buried somewhere in my garage were known as The 9 Commandments of The Godfather.
I do not remember all 9, but the most famous is the 1st, "Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer". Today's commandment du jour is the 2nd, "Never let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking". And with that, this rant is dedicated to the ever-flapping gums of the Yankees building-rappelling, on the last year of his contract, GM Brian Cashman.
When we last left our erstwhile leader, he was firing a shot across the bow of Mets' Management for their "abusive" handing of Lefty Reliever Pedro Feliciano, whose serious shoulder injury did not seem to have a deterrent effect on his signing by Mr. Cashman. This follows his wink-and-nod to the New York media about Joba Chamberlain arriving to Spring Training "fat".
Justin Louis "Joba" Chamberlain as you may remember arrived to great fanfare in late 2007 when Joe Torre, having again burned out all his bullpen arms, was gifted the Yankees #2 pitching prospect for the stretch. With Chamberlain already on an innings limit, "St. Joseph" was given explicit instructions not to turn him into the next Scott Proctor, Paul Quantrill or Tom Gordon. Much ridiculed at the time, these guidelines known as "The Joba Rules" were actually The Torre Rules. He thus pitched the most famous first 20 innings in baseball history (SSS alert).
The thing to note here is that Joba Chamberlain has never "failed" as a starting pitcher. He is only 25 years old, was very solid as a starter at 22 in 2008, battling Josh Beckett, the best pitcher in the AL at the time, for 8 innings, 1 hit and no runs on a chilly Friday at Fenway, for a 1-0 win. He experienced a loss in velocity in 2009, but was having a decent sophomore season (8-3, 3.70 ERA) until the fateful August 16-25th stretch when he did not pitch at all for 9 days, by design of the Yankee "braintrust".
Upon his arrival back, he gave up 7H/7 ER in 4 innings to Cleveland, and they seemed to have realized that they "might" have fouled him up, because they immediately put him back in the rotation with a pitch count of 60. As with most power pitchers, his tendency was to give up his runs early, and then settle down, so by isolating his worst innings, you can see his ERA steadily rise game-by-game to finish with a poor 4.75. He recovered to get key outs in the post-season when Phil Hughes tired.
Hughes, the pitcher they clearly like better -- and I have no issue with that -- was fast-tracked to a spot in the rotation in 2010, leaving Joba, who pitched only 10 innings in Spring Training (SSS grande!) as a "starter in the bullpen". Again, no issue with this, however, keep in mind that they did something similar with Phil Hughes last year, with very, very similar results. He was an All-Star through July, and a .500 pitcher the rest of the way.
Fast forward to the winter of 2010-2011. Shortly after dressing like one of Santa's elves, Mr. Cashman declared that Joba the starter was gone, and he was now only a reliever. Then came the "fat" comment. Scouts from other teams are waiting anxiously for the Yankees to cut bait so that they can steal him at the MLB minimum salary.
To recap: kid makes a splash as a reliever; kid makes a bigger splash as an elite starter; kid has a decent 2nd season, "mad scientists" manipulate his regimen, screw him up, disavow all knowledge; kid, who was the #2 pitching prospect in baseball in 2008-2009 goes from a potential 200-inning starter to a 60-inning middle reliever, i.e HIS VALUE HAS BEEN BURNED. The Blue Jays had asked for him straight up then for ROY HALLADAY!
What is clear to me when I see Joba Chamberlain, is that either for that DWI, or for something out of line that he said, the Yankees don't like him. He reminds me of Tom Cruise in All The Right Moves, who when he questions the coach's (Craig T. Nelson) ahem, tactics, is thrown off the team, made to ride home on a bus with the cheerleaders, and generally has his life ruined by badmouthing him to College recruiters.
Let's say all of the above regarding Joba is true. I can respect that. How then would Joba The Reliever have the most value as an asset to the New York Yankees? Correct answer: in a trade as a Starting Pitcher.
And how does one accomplish that? Correct answer: when you are auditioning Bartolo Colon, Freddie Garcia and JOHN MONTEFUSCO as starters, just say: Joba is competing for a job in our Starting Rotation.
See how easy that was? A good spring, and Joba is again a trade chip for a quality starter, even though you don't want him.
Remember what happened to Don Corleone when Sonny couldn't keep his mouth shut. Never let anyone outside the family know what you're thinking.
My next rant will include my version of The Torre Years.
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