:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/25018747/20130827_kkt_sv7_161.0.jpg)
Yankees fans have already had to say goodbye to one disappointing prospect in Phil Hughes, when he signed with the Minnesota Twins. Now they will say goodbye to another as Joba Chamberlain has signed with the Tigers. Something tells me no one will be losing any sleep over this.
His deal is a one-year, $2.5 million contract and will be loaded with performance incentives, but it likely won't get much better than that. The former top prospect had to settle for a less-than-$1 million raise after his terrible 2013 season. The Yankees were obviously not interested in bringing him back after the laundry list of problems they had with him over his career:
- There was the time he was arrested for a DUI.
- He had unnecessary Tommy John surgery.
- He broke his ankle falling off a trampoline.
- One time he told the media he could still be a starter.
- He yelled at Mariano Rivera.
Still, we'll always have those 24 innings in 2007 when everyone decided right there and then he was going to be the future closer, even though Mo only just retired. Maybe it was the jostling around between the bullpen and rotation, maybe it was poor development, maybe it was injury. Whatever the problem was with Joba, it all led to disappointment and the reality that, despite being only 28, he just might not be that good.
I assume he will be a reliever, but maybe the Tigers give him a look in the rotation. Hopefully he figures it out in Detroit this year, but I doubt he'll ever reach the potential we all hoped for.
