What to do With Joba?

There have been many people talking about Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain. Joba was called up from the minors last year towards the end of the season to be a relief pitcher in the bullpen. He pitched very well last year and has continued to impress this season. The thing is Joba was always a starting pitcher in the minors and the Yankees said they want him to eventually be a starting pitcher again. Even though he has been excellent as their set up man this year.

The great debate between fans is whether he should start games or continue to be a very effective relief pitcher. Yankees owner Hank Steinbrenner made his opinion clear ysterday. Steinbrenner said that he felt Joba had to be in the Yankees starting rotation right now. He also said that anyone who doesn't think that he is right is "an idiot". I think Steinbrenner is wrong and doesn't now as much about baseball as he thinks.

I think the Yankees should defintely keep Chamberlain as their set up man. The Yankees middle relief pitching without him would be terrible. I also think that the Yankees have enough young starters that they have to give a chance. The only reason that Steinbrenner made this comment is because some of the Yankees starters have struggled to open the season. It's only April, the team has played 20 games and their record is 10-10. It's too early to start making drastic changes. I think that right now Joba is one of the best set up men in baseball. Why would you remove him from a role he has been so successful in?

I think what the Yankees should do for the long term is keep him in the bullpen until their current closer Mariano Rivera retires. Then they should make him the closer. Chamberlain has proven that he can pitch well out of the bullpen and is unproven as a starter. As long as he continues to pitch well and the team wins, I don't see how you can make this change.