I love the new Evil Empire.
Ever since George Steinbrenner got older and less involved with the team, following the Yankees hasn't been quite as exciting. Sure, sometimes he was offensive, sometimes he was outrageous, sometimes he was borderline insane - but it was fun! Remember when he called out Derek Jeter after his .292, 18-home run, 124-run campaign in 2002? It's like our owner was a drunken townie in a bar argument.
Now, finally, the drunken townie returned - in the form of his son Hank. Every week he stirs up a new controversy, whether it's that America is really Yankee Nation, or that the jerk who buried the Ortiz jersey under the new Yankee Stadium should get a beating.
Most recently, Hank undermined General Manager Brian Cashman when he said that Joba Chamberlain should be in the starting rotation. The words were clearly a product of frustration about the Yankees' poor play in April, but he makes some good points. Joba is the most talented pitcher on the roster, and the depth of the Yanks' rotation is not exactly a strong point. Plus, with Hughes and Kennedy struggling to make it through five innings in their starts, we could use a dominant starter to give the bullpen a rest once in a while.
But the timing is not right. As much as I'd love to see Joba in the rotation and competing for the Cy Young award, there are three reasons why the Yankees shouldn't put him there: Francisco Liriano, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood.
They were all young phenoms who, like Joba, were dubbed as the future of their respective franchises. But with all three of them, a common mistake was made: the future was sacrificed for the present.
Liriano threw about 300 innings over a year and a half before his elbow blew out. He underwent Tommy John surgery and missed over a year, and it'll still be a while before he comes close to being the pitcher he was in '06.
Wood threw about 600 major league innings between the ages of 23 and 25 and then suddenly became a disabled list mainstay for years. Now, at 30, he's come back, but he's only used out of the bullpen for an inning at a time.
Prior, at 22, threw 211 major league innings. The next year he threw 118, despite injury, and then 166 the year after that (despite more injury!). Suddenly he too became an injury case, and he hasn't pitched in the majors since 2006.
We cannot let this happen to Joba. Cashman has put an innings limit on Joba at around 120 to 130 innings, and that's right where it should be. He pitched 115 innings last year between the minors and majors and, at 22, he shouldn't be asked to carry a heavier workload. I'd rather him pitch 1500 innings over the next 10 years than 400 innings over the next two.
But that brings me to my other point: I still don't want to see Joba in the bullpen forever like Jonathan Papelbon.
Papelbon and Joba are very comparable. Both were starters in the minors but made their major league debuts out of the bullpen. Papelbon tossed 34 innings with a 2.65 ERA and 34 strikeouts when he first hit The Show, while Joba threw 24 innings, equaled Papelbon's 34 strikeouts and allowed only a single earned run for an 0.38 ERA. The next year, Papelbon was so good that the Red Sox decided to keep him in the pen, and he saved 35 games with a ridiculous 0.92 ERA.
So why shouldn't Joba go the same route? Because the teams are in different situations.
The Red Sox needed (and still need) Papelbon as their closer. The Yankees have Mariano for the next three years. The Red Sox have an ace in Beckett and a deep overall rotation. The Yankees have nobody comparable to Beckett, and they're still relying on Mike Mussina and his NESCAC fastball.
Joba Chamberlain has to be a starter for the Yankees - just not yet.
David Heck is a sophomore who has not yet declared a major. He can be reached at David.Heck@tufts.edu.
