Yankee brass is faced with a dilemma: Should flame-throwing right-hander Joba Chamberlain stay in the bullpen, setting up closer Mariano Rivera? Should he be Rivera's heir apparent, and eventually assume Mo's role as closer? Or, should he be eased into the starting rotation?
High-class worries.
Excerpted from today's Joel Sherman column in the NY Post:
Thus we see the devilish long-term decision shadowing the Yankees with Chamberlain: Every fifth day vs. every eighth inning that matters. The Yanks keep insisting the 22-year-old right-hander is earmarked for the rotation. But with each dominating, momentum-changing, late-game outing, Chamberlain simply is making an already difficult decision even more so.
Interestingly, within the Yankees clubhouse, there seems little question on this subject. Veterans want to win now, and what they have seen in Chamberlain's 22 regular-season outings are a portal to victory. The Yanks are 20-2 in those games.
I agree with the vets. Joba's 100 MPH stuff and his shut-down attitude shine like gold at the end of games. Baseball itself is now so specialized that a starter goes 6, maybe 7 innings most nights. Complete games are becoming rarer than panties on a starlet. Games usually come down to the bullpen either holding on or blowing it.
So with Joba, hold on.
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