Official Endorsement for Chamberlain in 2011 Rotation

If I had a dime for every time I've read about who should be in the starting rotation for 2011 behind Sabathia, Hughes and Burnett... I just might be able to buy season tickets in the terrace level. This isn't a post about the three gentlemen that will already be representing the Yankee rotation in 2011. I'm throwing in my ten cents on why I believe it's time for Joba Chamberlain to seriously be added for spring training. You may or may not agree with me, but that's what makes this website beautiful. Let's move on to my points. 

1) He's proven that he can handle the rotation. Sure, he didn't turn out to be an absolutely stunning pitcher. But let's be real... he did a fantastic job in 2008 when he was sent out to start games. Between June 3 and August 4, he pitched 65.1 innings in 12 starts. His ERA was an outstanding 2.76 while hitters averaged a measly .247 against him and a .319 OBP. 3:1 K to BB ratio and 63% of his pitches were thrown for strikes. More importantly (even though I'm not a huge proponent of W-L record), he helped the Yankees win more than lose when he pitched. Sure, he only averaged about 5.1 innings per outing, but he also began the first two months of the season in the bullpen. That's a heck of a mid-season change to the rotation and the Yankees definitely hurried it up. But we couldn't have asked for more of an effort from Joba at that time. 

2) Yankees abused his arm in 2009 and his sloppy end of season pitching was a result of it. Joba started the vast majority of the season for the Yankees before being moved to the bullpen in the playoffs to create a fantastic 7-8-9 of Chamberlain, Hughes and Rivera. I would argue that the Yankees misused Chamberlain toward the end of the season... yet he still posted decent enough results that I would take in a heartbeat. They probably shouldn't have let him throw 110 innings before August when he only pitched 100 innings total in 2008. After sparkling brilliance during the first half of 2010, we saw a steady decline after the All Star game for Phil Hughes... yet he seems to be a definite in the rotation for years to come. Let's not forget that Joba played to the tune of a 3.58 ERA before his innings became limited and his arm clearly stopped functioning the same way. Would anyone else here take an ERA of 3.58-4.00 from the fourth starter right now? I sure as hell would. His fastball and slider velocity struggled as he threw 2,715 pitches in 2009. He resorted to throwing his curveball and change-up more and putting the slider in his back pocket in 2009 (which had always been his put-away money pitch). 

3) Got anyone else in mind? So far it seems like the best options we've managed to list are the following...

Option A - Sign someone like Kevin Millwood or Freddy Garcia and see if they have anything left in the tank

Option B - Sergio Mitre and Ivan Nova

Option C - Why even play the season because Tampa just signed Damon and Manny and Boston is already celebrating a championship. 

While Option C is unfortunately out of the question, this does leave two others. Personally, I'm not a fan of going out for a make-shift pitcher who is struggling to even find a home in 2011. Millwood's ERA has been somewhere in the low 5.00's during three of the past four years. Last year, he pitched against the American League East with the Orioles and that didn't seem to work out favorably for him. He was placed on the DL with a forearm sprain in his pitching arm and that scares me that he's ready to breakdown momentarily. Garcia showed a bit of promise last season by pitching fairly well with the White Sox. However, this is a man that tallied up 129 innings pitched from 2007-2009 before semi-reappearing last year. By no means is he an overpowering pitcher and I would tend to think that his ERA in the AL East would be somewhere between 4.50-5.00 (assuming he doesn't get injured). He's got a lot of mileage that he's burned up over the years and I wouldn't peg him as a reliable option. I'd throw him a minor league contract with some incentives at most. 

Now, Ivan Nova would appear to be the most logical option. He has pitched nearly an entire season at Scranton with great results. He also dipped his feet in the murky waters of the MLB last year by tossing 42 innings. Right now, we really don't know too much about Nova other than the fact that merely because he pitched with decency in some spot-starts last year, clearly he is the most viable option. Despite making some batters look foolish, Nova's ERA of 4.91 wasn't exactly as promising as I would have liked to see. Granted, he only started seven games, but he's truly not entirely experienced. Sergio Mitre is really just a terrible option. He's shaky when he throws longer than three innings. He's shown great things and he's shown miserable stuff out there as well. Personally, I don't trust Mitre to go out there and compete with another four or five starter every fifth day. I would expect the Yankees to win less than half the games that he pitches in. I do believe he has a solid position in the bullpen as a long-reliever. Also, no other pitcher (Noesi, Betances, Phelps, Brackman) has had significant enough experience in Scranton to be considered to the rotation to start the season. 

4) Joba doesn't fit into the bullpen. Right now, this is how I would fill out the bullpen. 

Boone Logan

Pedro Feliciano

David Robertson

Sergio Mitre

Romulo Sanchez

Rafael Soriano

Mariano Rivera

The Yankees, hands down, have the best set-up man and best closer in the game. At this point, it's about piecing together innings six and seven if the starter only goes five. I read earlier that Sanchez is out of options, so I imagine that he'll start out in the bullpen and we'll see whether or not he can prove himself. David Robertson has been terrific for the Yankees and I expect nothing less from him. He can provide one or two innings of relief if necessary, and has thrown up to three in the past. Mitre will be the long reliever. Feliciano has been able to gobble up innings up in Queens and Boone Logan stepped up last year and will again in his contract year. Swapping Sanchez and removing Chamberlain really doesn't affect the bullpen much, perhaps making it a bit weaker. But that's a risk I'd be willing to take every time. 

I truly and honestly believe that Chamberlain should be a starting pitcher. It was the intent in 2008 and 2009 before the Yankees changed their minds yet again. He has no future in the bullpen except possibly becoming a set-up man in the future. The fans, for whatever reason, have grown tired of him coming in and "ruining" games when he's only really blown up three-to-five games in 2010. Other than that, he was a lights out pitcher. He's logged plenty of innings in the rotation and I think that would suit him and the organization best at this point. Of course, Cashman and Girardi have come out to state that he will not be in the rotation at this point, but who honestly knows? I hope I haven't steered off-track much in this fanpost. It's getting really late on the east coast and I wanted to finally get a fanpost out for 2011. The Joba debate seems to have been raging on for years now... I still believe he holds value to the Yankees. 

By the way.... only two options in the poll. If you want to trade Joba, it won't happen. His stock is low right now and the Yankees would not get much in return.