Monday, April 21, 2008
Steinbrenner Speaks
"Yankees co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner, like his father George, has never been one to mince words. When it comes to where pitcher Joba Chamberlain should be -- the bullpen or the starting rotation -- the younger Steinbrenner's expectations are crystal clear.
"I want him as a starter and so does everyone else, including him, and that is what we are working toward and we need him there now," Steinbrenner told The New York Times. "There is no question about it, you don't have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a setup guy. You just don't do that. You have to be an idiot to do that."
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman apparently disagrees.
"Joba's staying in the bullpen right now," Cashman told Newsday on Monday. "That's where we're at. [Putting him in the rotation is] not something that's going to happen here early on, and [Hank] knows that. We've talked about it. I don't know what set him off."Cashman said it's too early to make any drastic changes."
...I completely agree with Cashman here. Joba is too valuable a part in the bullpen to be taken out and placed in the rotation. You would also have to send him down to stretch out his arm and put someone else in his place. I do not think he will be as dominant as a starter, but he will still be very very good. It just seems like he is destined to be a closer.
