Joba among other things

----Quick note....the crowd at Yankee Stadium last Friday was a pretty tame one for a Yankees vs. Red Sox game but the Yankees pulled away pretty early on so the crowd (including myself) did relax quite a bit. Here's hoping for more life in the playoffs.

----On to todays topic and I think we can close the book on this experiment. Joba Chamberlain is not a starting pitcher, and if the Yankees are smart he will not be one in the ALCS nor the World Series (assuming they make it). So does that mean I'm saying give the ball to Chad Gaudin as the fourth starter in the playoffs? Yes it does. Joba Chamberlain struggled against the Kansas City Royals last night as if he were facing the Cincinnati "Big Red Machine" of the late 70s. If you look at video of the kid from late 2007 when he first came up and electrified us all, he stood tall, took no time between pitches, threw with conviction, and popped the glove at an average of 98 mph. The only time you would see the catcher walk out to the mound was probably to tell him he was bruising his catching hand. Fast-forward to last night and we saw a different person. Taking time between pitches, throwing a life-less 92mph fastball, shoulders hunched, pitching to corners (and missing).

----With all of that said I think the solution is simple....."the switch". Phil Hughes is a much more polished pitcher than Chamberlain and has more effective pitches in his arsenal than does Chamberlain. Although Hughes has been great in the 8th inning this year, I think its time to make the move. For Spring training 2010, I would tell Joba that he is in the bullpen for the entire year, no rules, no limits, 7th, 8th inning when we need you....done. This way his mind is clear and knows that when the sound guys at Yankee stadium spin Motley Crue's "Shout at the Devil", its time to roll! Joba Chamberlain is not beyond repair, but anymore destruction of what once was, and we will have lost what could have been the perfect replacement for Rivera for years to come.