On YES' Hot Stove special last week, the newest inductee to the HOF, Goose Gossage thought the Yanks were crazy taking Joba Chamberlain out of the bullpen. He has a great understanding of this issue because he began his career as starter for the White Sox, switched to the bullpen and then went back into the rotation for a season. He then flipped back into the bullpen when he joined the Pirates before coming over to the Yankees as a big free agent in 1978. His reasons were fairly simple:
A) As a reliever Joba could influence many more games than as a starter.
B) How hard has it been for the Yanks to find "the bridge" to Mariano? Yea, he means you Farnsworth!
C) Rivera could give him on the spot training to be the closer of the future.
Cashman spoke to Mike & Dog about how he was going to limit Chamberlain's innings this season to protect his arm which would mean that Joba will be in the bullpen at some point. I imagine the situation will be fluid and I doubt they even have an exact plan at this point.