As the trade deadline begins to approach, the Yankees will undoubtedly get offers for Joba Chamberlain. It's always a tough decision when it comes to young pitchers, whether or not it's time to let them go. It's especially true of the ones who came up through the system and have already received a lot of investment from the team. He is 27 years old, and has demonstrated some success in the past with the Yankees. The question is, is he going to blossom into the pitcher we've all hoped for, or is he the guy that never quite had what it takes to succeed?
This is his 7th season in the major leagues, and the best phrase to describe his performance has been "up and down." He exploded on the scene in 2007, with "Joba Rules", limiting his pitch count and his rest time. He looked fantastic in the regular season, giving up only one earned run in two months of play, but then collapsed in the postseason, giving up runs in each of his two appearances. In 2008 the starter experiment started, and he looked good at times and he looked terrible in others. The next few years seemed to repeat the pattern - a month of being untouchable, and then a month of being very hittable. This season is no different - after his first two appearances of the season, he didn't allow a run for the rest of April. Then, after returning from the disabled list, he has given up 6 runs in 6+ innings.
Here are the reasons why time might be up on the Joba project. First, his inconsistency is a serious liability to the team. Look, no pitcher goes an entire season without giving up runs. Even the great Mariano Rivera gives up a run every once in a while. The problem with Joba is that these incidents come in bunches. This season alone, in 16 appearances he's given up runs in 5 of those games. That's almost 1 in 3. Relievers who give up runs 1 time out of every 3 appearances are not usually considered untouchable in trade talks.
Second, we may be able to get some good talent in return for him. Included as part of a deal, Joba may be very valuable to some team who thinks they can straighten him out. There's no question that he's got the physical ability to pitch well. We've all seen it. Sometimes it just seems that he's not exercising good judgment. Could someone out there think that, with some proper guidance and mentor-ship, Joba could be a dominant pitcher? Absolutely.
They might even be right. But if the Yankees hold on to him too long and he doesn't straighten out, he'll start to look like the modern version of Kevin Maas - great potential talent that never panned out.
Finally, I think there's a real problem with his personal judgment. If you remember his DUI arrest a few years ago, you might have thought that it was poor judgment exercised by someone young and immature. Then you look at his target practice with Kevin Youkilis. When Youkilis joined the Yankees, he still didn't handle it right. Finally, I still have a problem with his exchange with Mariano Rivera last month. I know this is old news, but after a while, you have to see a pattern here. This is someone who is a headline waiting to happen, and you hope it's not one that you have to hold a press conference to explain.
As always, there is nothing but love and support for a guy who wears the pinstripes and goes out and does his best. But the best move for the Yankees might be to cash out.
--Ike Dimitriadis, BYB Writer
Twitter: @KingAgamemnon
My blog is: Shots from Murderer's Row
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