Lyle Overbay Clone Fools Noone

Have you ever seen a human clone?

Are you sure?

Perhaps you should go to your t.v. and find the Jays game. Playing first base for the Jays this year is a familiar face - the face of fan favourite Lyle Overbay.

But make NO MISTAKE - this man is an imposter, a clone of the man who once a doubles machine with emerging home run power, a great eye at the plate and a slick golve in the field.

The sort of player that seemed to embody the growing trend towards the smarter, more patient hitter. See more pitches, work more walks, tire out the pitcher, and get into their bullpen as quickly as possible. That's the place teams hide, as Brian Cashman said recently "failed starters", and it makes sense that those would be the guys you'd like to face.

Turning the page on the Carlos Delgado era, this was the sort of player that could keep the fans eyes towards the future. The potential to be the prototype for the first baseman of tomorrow.

It didn't turn out that way. A pitch on the back of the hand in a 2008 game broke bones, and shelved him for much of the season. And robbed him of his rythem, his timing and worst of all his power. It would be well into the next season before the confidence seemed to return but it never came all the way back. And the emerging power was now a lack of power.

Meanwhile, the first baseman of tomorrow was starting his career in Boston, turns out he can play third base too. In Toronto they were left with the sort of player that would bridge the gap until the real 1st baseman since Delgado would arrive. And that sort of player wasn't all bad.

The walks were still there, the occassional glimpses of power, and the solid, if unspectacular, defense made him the perfect bridge to tomorrow. But something has happened to that man. He may need our help.

In his place is a clone, or more specifically, proof - that a clone can never be as good as a man, and appearantly can't hit over .100. Can't lay off a ball in the dirt, inside, outside or up. Can't Hit ANYTHING. After swinging the bat so much and making so little contact there is little, appearently, for a clone to do - than watch strike three and hope it's a ball. Plenty of time to take disintrested hacks next time up.

I'm pretty sure this is some kind of terrorism. I have seen very little in the first two weeks of the season that terrifies me more than watching Lyle's imposter stroll to the plate.

It is also possible, I suppose, that this is actually Lyle Overbay. That there is simply something still wrong with his hand, or perhaps he just wants to be anywhere else in the world than in Toronto, another year behind the Yankees and Red Sox, another year closer to Brett Wallces' arrival from the minors.

I still can't see the real Overbay throwing in the towel like this, no matter how much sense a conspiracy theory might make, it just dosn't pass muster if it's reliant on a working man having no pride. Now, clones on the other hand? I think I've proved my point. Just make sure you act fast if you're hoping to get a glimpse of this thing, this truley can't go on much longer. And if you do know the whereabouts of the real Lyle Overbay don't just stand there. Help him. He is in trouble.

How to catch a Knuckle baller

Victor Martinez caught Tim Wakefield today and made a lot of catchers look pretty foolish. Remember the series against the yankees a few years back - when the red sox traded with San Diego to get Bard back because Wakefield was on the mound, the Yankees were in town, and Varitek could'nt catch the knuckleball? It was a great story - how he was given a police escort from the airport to the ballpark and arrived just in time for first pitch

On Thursday, martinez caught Wakefield with no problem . His solution to this age old problem? He caught with a first basemans glove. When you hear it it seems pretty damn obvious dosn't it?

I've never tried to catch a knuckleball so maybe I just don't know. Maybe this is what lots of people have always done, but then why have we heard so little of it? Has anyone else ever heard of this?

Playing the Right Way?

Watching the Sunday night game between the Brewers and Cardinals there was an interesting play in the middle of the game where the St. Louis pitcher bounced a ball in the dirt that subsequently hit Prince Fielder in the leg. What was interesting was his reaction: he pretended the ball didn't hit him. He got back in the box and waited for the next pitch. It didn't work, the umpire saw him get hit. Joe Morgan enjoyed the situation and commented that FIelder wanted to hit.

It was a good moment to be a baseball fan. The reason it's fun to cheer for the players, not the jerseys they wear.

On Tuesday night the White Sox were in Toronto. A.J. Pierznski was at the plate. Romero was on the mound and he bounced a pitch in the dirt. This time it avoided the hitter and bounced to the backstop. Not according to A.J. however, who took the opportunity to hop around on one leg and do what he could to convince the ump he had been hit. It worked, and he was awarded his free pass to first.

The situations were different. The Sox were behind 4-0 and were being no hit. The Brewers were up 7-1. Rios folowed aj to the plate and ended the no hitter with a 2 run homer slicing the lead in half. Although they went on to lose by that score. The Cardinals actually managed to come back in their game to tied it at 7-7 in the ninth, before tlosing in extras.

It could be said that A.J. did everyhting he could to get on base, to help his team score and he did, but for me it wasn't a great baseball moment. It made me think about cheering for the jersey instead of the player - even if you're a Sox fan, how could you like a cheater?

Or maybe it could be said that Feilder was acting selfishly, placing his desire to hit above what was in the best interst of the team.It didn't feel that way at the time, but in retrospect it could be argued. I guess thats what makes baseball such a great game. Everything is relevant. Everything you do matters. Thats the appeal of the players that "play the game the right way" but in this case I'm not sure which way that is.

A Zingerless Future?

Here's whats interesting - watching a ball game on television when a couple of the hometown hecklers are at the top of their game and you can pretty much hear them slinging their razor sharp reparte throughout the evening - my favorite from the White Sox game at Cellular Field tonight - "Hey Sizemore, my sister says you suck!!" - Sizemore hit a double in the 11th to put the Sox up by 2 runs - a small, but boisterous crowd, chanted "Cleveland sucks!"

With the price of beer at the ballpark going up every year and the drink sales stopping in the 7th inning at a lot of places, not to mention the crazy amount of security at just about any event these days, there may be coming a day when the screaming drunk fan is more a memory than a reality. Or, perhaps I'm overvalueing the teetotaler, perhaps it is the truley insane individual that provides us with some of our favorite slings and slurs - and it is probably true that we will always have crazy people in our midst.

Just in case, I'd like to try to document some of the best insults hurled at players this year. I'll keep my ears open, you do the same. And send your best here. The best insults at the end of the year will be given the Bradley Bird, an imaginary trophy of some variety, that we can imagine is shaped like Milton Bradley's middle digit and perhaps has a cuckoo bird that shoots out of the tip of the finger every hour on the hour screaming insults. Or someone out there with too much time on their hands can make that and we'll give it to the best entry or series of entries. Ok, get to work losers!!!!

The Anti - Mauer Deal

If Joe Mauers deal litterally scared the bejesus out of me, by demonstrating how difficult and expensive it might be for the small market teams of the future to hold onto their homegrown talent, then the just announced Adam Lind deal has litterally scared the bejesus back in to me.

At 4 years for 15.4 million and an additional 3 club option years at 7 -8 mil. per year, Toronto has locked up their best hitter for a substantial amount of time at an amazing value. When compared to Justin Uptons' rescent deal it looks like pure robbery.

Of course its all about projections with a player as unproven as Lind - will he continue to develop or fall of the face of the earth, but in order for Toronto, a small market team, to be able to compete, they have to project correctly and more importantly, spend accordingly - even if you're wrong you havn't wasted so much money that you handcuff yourself, and you can still move the player if the situation is right.

When you sign players to the Joe Mauer or Vernon Wells deals a wrong assesment can cripple your club and put such high expectations on a player that it is almost unrealistic to expect a correct return on the investment - the player has to be incredible and anything short of that makes them overpaid.

If Toronto can show the same sort of proactivity with other up and coming stars, and the young players continue to show a desire to play there, despite a rescent lack of playoff appearences and, more importantly, fans, then the model of how a small market team can survive, and save baseball will truley be on display.

Pitch Hitting

Heres whats interesting - there may be nothing more painful to watch in the sport of baseball than a pitcher with a bat in his hands - yet the fact that the pitchers are so bad at the plate is exactly what makes asking them to hit so great for the game.

Say what you want about how ridiculous it is forcing each team to have a virtual black hole at the end of their lineup, how its generally accepted that the pinch hitter has one of the toughest jobs in the game, coming in cold in the middle of a contest, or the amount of games where a pitcher gets pulled in the middle of a dazzling outing simply because his utter uselessness at the dish is surpassed, however feebley, by a washed up veteran who gets 10 ABs a week.

It is exactly the ineptitude of the hitters occupying the pitchers spot in the lineup that makes the NL game fascinating. The pinch hitting with a man on second and two outs in the sixth and the pitcher due up, the double switch , and the pinch running if the vet gets to first (because he may not be able to hit very much anymore, but he sure as hell can't run to second) with a young speedster, who either way will have to be replaced when its his turn to hit because that's not what he's here for - he's here to run for the guy who hit for the guy who can't hit - thank god for the double switch!

It's not every sport that turns its inane ideas into compelling theatre , but in this case there is no way baseball would be the same without it. In fact it would be very much like the AL , where the teams are better for a reason. THIS REASON. There's no dwarf star floating around your lineup constantly destroying your teams chances to field the most competetive team. And there's nowhere for the pitchers to hide and so only the best survive and grow stronger due to their competition. But that dosn't matter, there is nothing to manage. No wonder the bullpens grow more relevant by the day - in the NL you need them because you're pulling your pitcher every time he has to hit - in the AL you're trying to find something to do.

I honestly can't tell which league I prefer, or if I support correcting a flaw, no matter how entertaining it might be. Imagine making your punter be the QB, your worst shooter throw all your free throws, or your goalie take your teams shootout attempts, even just once a game. That would be great, but would never happen because it's way too stupid. For now, I guess we just sit back and enjoy it for what it is and hope noone notices that it's completely ridiculous.

Minor Blip: Fantasy Forecast

This is the time of year when dreams get shattered. Not just for the up and coming superstars who are called into the managers office to find out their torrid springs aren't worthy of a spot on the big league roster, but instead a little more seasoning in the minors, but for the many fantasy owners who get the harsh news that they've wasted a spot on their rosters for a player who seemingly will be of no help to their teams this year.

Will these players be able to help your team this year? Who's worth waiting on and who should you cut bait and run on, now, before that handful of helpful players are snapped up from the waiver wire while you try to decide what move to make next.

It goes without saying you're an injury away from being wrong no matter what you decide to do next. Injuries not withstanding here's 5 players you need to be patient with and 5 players you should leave for someone else to fret about.

Be patient with:

Pedro Alvarez (Pit.) - think Ryan Braun, a masher whose callup a couple months into the season wins you your league

Eric Young jr. (Col.) - speed demon who is currently blocked by the extremely inconsistent Clint Barmes, a chance to tear up the bases at the top of a very powerful lineup WHEN Barmes falters

Michael Taylor (Oak.) -it might be hard to believe but Billy Beane has to be feeling the pressure to field a competetive team again and soon, Taylor's just the guy to help do that, 20 steals and 20 homer projection still looks fine when pro-rated over a half season

Stephen Strasburg (Was.) - it dosnt really matter what he does, the whole world will be watching and he'll be yours, and if you don't like what you see there will be someone else in your league really wishing he was theirs

Aroldis Chapman (Cin.) - see Strasburg

Pass on:

Brett Wallace (Tor.) - being virtually assured of a long and prosperous career dosn't garauntee you'll be able to avoid another year in the minors, too many options in Toronto, and too many losses projected make leaving Wallace in AAA too real a possibility for non keeper league managers to waste a spot on

Kyle Drabek (Tor.) - big time prospect still needs to play above AA ball before a move to the majors, and as is the case with most young pitchers, is unlikely to help your team right out of the gate either way

Desmond Jennings (T.B.) - even if the Rays decide to move Carl Crawford at the deadline, 5 tool players like Jennings usually take longer to put it all together on the big league stage

Domenic Brown (Phi.) - one of the few players the Phillies were unwilling to move in an effort to win now, there simply isn't any room for him on the big league roster, seems likely to replace Jayson Werth if the Phils are unable to resign him this offseason

Buster Posey (S.F.) - it dosn't really matter how great Buster is going to be, and it looks like he'll be pretty great, his power dosn't project too high, and it won't be helped by AT&T Park, and his manager, Bruce Bochey, is an ex catcher who seems to be a big fan of Bengie Molina, as evidenced by Poseys lack of playing time in S.F. last september - wait 'til next year

Slip Sliding Away: Francisco Liriano

Whats the deal with Fransisco Liriano? How can a pitcher that was so dominant in 2006 be so bad in 2009? We know about the tommy john surgery that ruined his 2007. His subsequent slow recovery. His horrible start to 2008, demotion to the minors. His terrrific numbers in the minors that season and his callup at the end of the year and the solid starts that followed.

Everything we know told us 2009 was going to be his return to form. He should have been recovered from his surgery, still young, still gifted with the sort of stuff that you could only describe as nasty. There was little to doubt about his 2009 performance. Liriano was back and it was going to be 2006 all over again. But on the way to garuanteed super-stardom something happened, but what?

The problem, it seems, was Lirianos' fear of commiting to the slider. His fastball seemed to be back to pre injury form, as was his ability to locate, but his slider lacked the late movement that had so confused hitters in his first go around the league.

Well Lirianos' slider is back, or that is to say, his fear of throwing that devastating slider is gone, and if his arm can hold up against the strain of that motion all year, then Liriano circa 2006 is back. And therein lies the question. Can he snap the elbow on that pitch for the next 6 months? The next 6 years? Or is it only a matter of time before the ligament snaps back? Either way it's been great watching him baffle hitters again this spring. Here's hoping his elbow can handle it.

The Ghost of Prospects Past: Pittsburgh Pirates

Let's take a look at how to structure a team coming off a 17th consecutive losing season. Of course, we don't have a lot of data to work with as the Pittsbugh Pirates are the only team in the history of North American professional sports franchises to hold this dubious distinction, so I guess we'll start (and finish) there.

The key seems to be to field as many prospects as possible, not neccesarily rescent prospects but a series of high upside players who haven't been able to break into the big leagues over the past few years. Start with a couple homegrown prospects then mix in a handful of former highly projected youngsters from other organizations.

From the Pirates farm Andrew McCutchen gets his chance to build off a great rookie campaign and Pedro Alvarez looks assured of getting his feet wet at some point later this year.

At this point though, Alvarez is being blocked by another rescent prospect, Andy LaRoche, who came over from the Dodgers in the Jason Bay trade and gets the start at third base to open the season. He showed flashes of promise, that went mostly unnoticed, as the Pirates played out the string last September, but the clock might be ticking on his chance to live up to his former top prospect status.

In the outfield, Lastings Milledge, already on his third team after coming over from the Washington Nationals for Nyjer Morgan, looks like he might finally be ready to deliver on his vast potential, while Jeff Clement now mans first after failing to break the Mariners vaunted lineup as the catcher of the future.

With a couple prospects in the outfield and at both infield corners, the middle of the infield was the last need to be addressed, which was done by bringing in 2004 rookie of the year Bobby Crosby and former Cubs farmhand Ronnie Cedeno, who, while going undrafted, did manage to tear up AAA pitching to the tune of a .350 BA over his last 500+ ABs. However, like the rest of the Pittsburgh prospects, he has yet to translate that success to the major league level.

It's an interesting approach to take to rebuilding a team, finding value in players whose shine has worn off but whose ceilings are still high. At the very least until they've been given a chance to prove the scouts right. And what better place to get that chance then in Pittsburgh, where high upside can hide behind low expectations, and no matter what the outcome, is preferable to consistent mediocrity.

The worry, of course, is in throwing your lot in with players other teams have already determined are essentially, worth throwing away. Seattle obviously thinks highly of Rob Moores' future, but after years in their system they pretty much gave up on Clement. The same thing could be said of LaRoche, a 3rd baseman who has so far failed to show the power neccessary from a corner infielder, Crosby, who has never come close to repeating his 21 homer rookie season, or Milledge, whose reputation for being a problem in the clubhouse, while perhaps unfounded, has so far outwieghed any contribution he's been able to make with the bat.

Either way it's a gamble, but at this point gambling on cheap untapped potential while waiting for your homegrown prospects to be ready to make the jump, seems like a pretty good betting strategy. Of course, it's also the sort of plan that could try the patience of Pirates fans, but after 17 years of failed rebuilding projects what's one more.

The Numbers Game: Seattle Mariners

If you've been paying attention to the pre season prognosticators you may have noticed the hype machine is in overdrive about the potential of this years Seattle Mariners.

People jumping on the Mariners bandwagon have two things to hang their hat on as in the one two punch at the top of the lineup of Ichuro Suziki and Chone Figgens and the one two combo at the front of the rotation in King Felix Hernandez and Cliff Lee. Formidable stuff indeed, but enough to vault them past the halos?

For a real look at what the future holds for this years club I think there's a much more important set of combos to examine: the 3,4,5 hitters. As in Casey Kotchman (.742 career OPS, 21 homeruns over last 2 seasons) your 3 hitter , Milton Bradley (1 very good season with texas in '08 and a whole lot of mental instability) hitting cleanup and Ken Griffey jr. (he of the .214 average in '09) protecting him in the fifth hole. Yea , you read that right, thats the meat of the order.

But wait, there's more, as in the 3,4,5 starters in the rotation. Thier names are Ryan Rowland-Smith ( 11-7 career win-loss, though a respectable 3.62 ERA, 1.30 WHIP) Ian Snell ( 38-48, 4.71, 1.53) and one of a series of names that at this point looks like Doug Fister (3-4, 4.13, 1.28) yea you read that right too. At this point is there any reason to keep writing?

I will anyway. Keep in mind this is a team that ranked 17th in the league in home runs in '09 with 160, 84 behind the league leading Yankess and 28th in runs scored with 640, an unbelievable 275 behind New York, and decided not to resign their leading home run hitter in Russel Branyan (31 HR) and traded their highest upside pitcher, not named Felix, 2006 top pick Brandon Morrow (5th overall), not for help in the lineup, or in their starting rotation but for help in the bullpen (Brandon League) which was arguably one of last years biggest strengths.

On top of that they traded their top pick from 2007, Phillippe Aumont (11th overall) for one year of Lee, who according to reports had already priced himself out of the Phillies future plans, and their top pick from 2005, Jeff Clement (3rd overall) for Jack Wilson (career .268 AVG, .684 OPS) appearently all with an eye towards....winning it all this year? And for this they are being lauded throughout baseball for their shrewd moves and considered a threat to the Angels and Rangers?

This must be one of those situations where the real value lies somewhere outside the numbers because from where I'm sitting, it obviously dosn't lie within.

Fantasy Q & A

Q: Hey Rob, here are some sleepers, post hypers, and players of personal interest that I have scattered across my draft board. If you feel like taking a few minutes to rattle some rankings up, your opinion would be valued...

Based only on upside, playing situation, and overall talent - how would you rank these 20 options?

A: Allright, I took your 20 names and organized them 1 to 20 with my reasoning down below:

1.heyward--- 6.rasmus--- 11.jennings--- 16.reimold
2.strasberg--- 7.wallace--- 12.c carter--- 17.stubbs
3.alvarez--- 8.smoak--- 13.chapman--- 18.desmond
4.quentin--- 9.posey--- 14.a gordon--- 19.jackson
5.snider--- 10.m taylor--- 15.montero--- 20.s sizemore

gotta take heyward first, not only because the whole world values him that way but because they might be right.......same for strasburg tho i can't see him reaching the hype....you know how i feel about alvarez, tho if you believe in andy laroche lasting the year at third you might want to hold off (lol).....quentin or snider here? -if he gets the whole year in, and either way long term , i prefer snider BUT quentin is safer....rasmus still has upside and a great lineup but is there enough pop?...wallace may not be up for a while tho i think he's ready and looks like a sure bet to be very good for a long time....smoak will mash in arlington and i don't want to miss the boat BUT texas always has too many good looking prospects and few who actually pan out ....so i would probably take the next 2, posey and taylor, higher than him and rasmus but i might not recomend it to others, i just have a real good feeling poseys the next mauer and taylors winfield-lite, but again some things are just gut feelings that are hard to explain...jennings looks like the next crawford - i don't love crawford- i don't like waiting forever for a player to be better than he is....carters lke smoak, will he turn into barton or texiera, i cant get a proper read but there's value there.....i may be wrong but i don't believe in chapmans mechanics, i see years of almost, and like i've said i hate almost...which brings us to gordon.....will montero stay behind the plate? i hear there's a debate, that combined with the yankees ability to be patient tells me late round flyer because he does seem like a special bat....i don't believe in reimold, i think pie will be the starter by years end - i like pie alot if i could gaurantee the power...stubbs has grit and speed, thats one category magic...which brings us to desmond and jackson - tho maybe i'm wrong on jackson, some people really seem to like him .....and lastly sizemore, i don't think he'll make the tigers out of camp and that means waiver wire pickup in a couple months in most leagues, and that's only if you have a need....

well i could be wrong but that's how i feel about things - hope its helpful

Have a question for the round table? Send it to nobrorton@yahoo.ca

The Media Circus: Your guide to avoiding ignorance.

Welcome to the premiere of The Media Circus, a place where we can all vent our frustrations about the horrible people who on a daily basis try to defame and destroy our game with their bias and ignorance.

Like me, you sit on your couch screaming at the t.v. ready to throw objects through the screen, if your t.v. wasn't so damn valuable. Well scream no more, you now officially have a place to, not only vent your frustrations, but also share with other people who are actual fans, not paid talking heads who, not only don't watch as many games as you do, but don't even watch the games they're covering.

So fire away in the comment section and one by one we'll bring the bastards that destroy our game down.

The Joe Mauer deal: Is it really great for baseball?

It seems there is little doubt everywhere I look that Mauers new 8 year 184 million contract is the best thing that could have happened for the Twins AND more importantly for the sport of baseball, and specifically the small market team. Here is a team, just years removed from contraction talk, moving into a beautiful new outdoor ballpark, with a budget now approaching 100 million and their best player and hometown hero locked up for the forseeable future. Fans in New York and Boston, take note, you're not gonna sweep in and get all the best players, the small market teams are taking a stance, and it starts today.

Or at least that seems to be the conventional wisdom, but I have to wonder how much help this really provides for anybody. Make no mistake, Joe Mauer did not take a hometown discount on this deal, which, however you want to break it down, is one of the 5 richest deals in baseball history. Instead I think it might be fair to say this is exactly the sort of deal that handcuffs small market franchises for years to come.

Is it possible that the Twins will get full value for this signing: yes, in baseball terms this amount of money could end up providing relative rewards, but that relative is thanks to the market established by the Bostons and New Yorks having ratcheted up the market on great players to absurd heights. It seems more to me a victory for the big market teams that established a bar so high that the only way the small markets can compete is to empty the coffers on one player, than sit back and cross their fingers.

The biggest mistake here was the Twins lack of foresight in not signing Mauer, hometown wonder-kind, to a long term contract 3 years ago when his talent was no less obvious than it is today. (At that time they signed him to 4 years at 33 million) Keep in mind this extension comes on the heels of his best season to date. And for a catcher. I wont argue that a catcher can't stay in the game, and behind the plate, into his forties, but to stay productive, and I'm talking 23 million dollars a year productive for 150 games a year into his late 30s, certainly remains in doubt, no matter how great Joe Mauer is today, at age 27.

I have to think that ownership in places like Washington and Pittsburgh uttered a collective "fudge" upon seeing the market for their young up and coming stars like Stephen Strasburg and Pedro Alvarez get placed into a stratosphere here-to-for unmatched by all but the most ridiculous overspenders in the game.

As a fan i know I'll be thinking "I hope Travis Snider can become a great player some day, BUT not too great - not 200 million dollars great" because no matter how much I might like a player I dont want my team spending that kind of dough on one guy- it's too risky and too expensive. I've already been priced out of going to too many games myself, and that's to watch a team that never wins , heaven forbid we ever make the playoffs again, because you know that pricetag is being passed along to the fans.

I know its hard to predict where and when to spend your money on young talent. For every Evan Longoria, who the Rays locked up for 6 years at 17.5 million (with 3 club option years at 27 mil. more) after he had played a handful of games, theres an Eric Hinske, who recieved way too much money after a rookie of the year campaign, which turned out to be 14.75 million too rich and 5 years too long.

It's obviously difficult business deciding just who exactly you're going to hand over the keys to your franchise to, but with a little bit of foresight 3 years ago, the Twins could have avoided, not only putting all of their eggs in one basket, but putting every other small market teams eggs in one basket too.

So congratulations Twins fans, you get to keep one of the best players in baseball for the rest of his career but don't count me amongst the fans applauding the Twins for doing what's best for the sport of baseball.

Fan Chat: When are good questions too good?

Good times over at bluejays.com where a fan chat with President Paul Beeston has brought the conspiracy theorists out of the woodwork to accuse the Blue Jays of self generating a series of softball questions for Beeston to swat out of the park.

Any merit to the accusations? Who cares - anything that gets fans talking about baseball is great in my book and it proves once again that the comment section is very often the best part of any article. The commenters do raise one very interesting question, however: when examined closely, what user names don't seem like complete fakes?

Edit: I just checked back on the comments and they're getting funnier every minute.

Joba to the Bullpen

I have to wonder if this came as a surprise to anyone. The day the Yankees traded Melky Cabrera to the Braves for Javier Vazquez, it was obvious there would only be one spot available in the rotation going into this year. Which begged the question: who is more suitable for the bullpen - Joba or Phil Hughes, and who was more suitable for the 5th starters spot?

Considering Joba excelled as the setup man for Rivera when given the chance 2 years ago and Hughes is a former top 5 starting pitching prospect for the Yankees, whose only reason for not being in the rotation already going into this season, is a series of injuries, the answers seem to have already been provided.

The only reason people wanted to ask the question was the much bally-hooed Joba rules, in which the Yanks had spent much of the last 2 years streatching Jobas' arm out, with an eye towards protecting his health in the years to come. Certainly it is worth questioning the validity of the plan but I'm not sure you can question the attempt to make an effort. There's no denying the shear number of pitchers who at some time in their career come down with arm issues.

Which is the best way to insulate a young pitcher from having problems though is very open for debate, and whether the Yankees are right or wrong in their approach dosn't mean they have to keep Joba in the rotation for the next 10 years to try and justify it.

You'll hear a lot of arguments that the 'Joba rules' actually hindered Chamberlians career up to this point, mostly based on the theory that constant pitch counts can mess with a young players head, which seem to have a valid basis in reason, or an argument that I prefer, that it is generally accepted that the only way to strengthen a muscle is to use it. That seems to make a lot of sense on its face, but ultimatly there just isn't enough information out there right now to know for sure one way or the other, and not enough basis in logic to assume New York, and more specificlly, Brian Cashman, are going to spend the rest of their careers trying to prove they could see the future.

From my side of the couch I say the best way to avoid the inevitable is to embrace the inevitable: ergo sever the elbow tendons of every pitching prospect at the age of 22 and perform Tommy John surgery. In fact I'm not a surgeon but i wonder if you'd even have to sever the tendon to perform the surgery. The way I understand it they take a ligament from the leg and, in the past they would double wrap the arm tendon, and today triple wrap the arm tendon, and many players say their arms feel better than ever before.

I say quadrouple wrap 'em, and if you're running short on tendons how about letting fans become doners. I've already donated my remains to, for all I know, cadaver practice at the local doctors university, you don't think i would donate my ligaments for a chance at another Blue Jays World Series? I guarantee I wouldn't be the only one.