It's only spring training people!

No, there's no way you can say the Granderson trade was bad because Granderson has a sub-par BA and Jackson is hitting the ball well. No, there's no way Nick Johnson wins the AL MVP with a .900 slugging percentage and Cano hits .393 throughout the whole season. That's why it's called spring training.

The whole thing with starting pitcher roles and 3rd outfielder roles being decided by every at-bat, every game in spring training is just silly. Saying Joba doesn't have what it takes after 2 bad starts, which were incidentally his first 2 starts since September, is wrong. Yes Aceves is pitching well. So is Mitre. Can we honestly expect them to keep this up for the whole season? Are we going to judge what pitcher should be sent out every 5th day for the Yankees just based on the fact that some relief pitchers from last season are striking out AAA players? Playing a 162-game season is a lot different from having 2 or 3 starts in sunny Tampa Bay with half-empty stadiums. Media pressure, fan-pressure and the thirst for results-those are all things that players like Joba or Hughes have gone through and excelled in. Those are also things that Mitre and Gaudin have never quite felt. Yes they are Major Leaguers, but playing in Florida or Seattle is different than starting here.

So what happens if Girardi chooses Gaudin to be our 5th starter? He might pitch well for 2 or 3 more games, unavoidably falter, and go back to the bullpen. Meanwhile Joba or Hughes have to have 2 "transition starts" to get them back into starter form. This costs us about 3 games (Gaudin's bad starts and Hughes'/Joba's transition starts), all this because Gaudin pitches well in spring training. I'm not taking anything away from pitchers like Gaudin or Mitre, but they have no track record of being good starters. Joba and Hughes already have bigger resumes, are younger, and are the future of the Yankees if Cashman doesn't trade them away. So why make every start a do or die start?

So take it easy doomsdayers. Spring training, to me, means warming up for the season. If that means getting shelled so you can fine-tune your pitches, then go ahead and get shelled Joba. He shouldn't be relying on pitches that he's comfortable with just so he can look impressive and win a job.