Pitching YANKEES or mets?

Money doesn't matter. Only performance matters. If you said, AJ Burnett is a huge risk to be injured, okay, I can see how that would concern a Yankee fan. (I'd think the risk is overstated, but I could see why it would be said.) But I don't care how much money he makes. I only care that he has a healthy season. If he does, I'm sure he'll do well enough that I'll be happy.

From the 2009 New York Yankee Media Guide: "According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Joba Chamberlain's 2.23 ERA over his first 11 major league starts was the lowest for any Yankee pitcher since Mel Stottlemyre's 1.97 in 1964 (page 90)."

Smallish sample size, but he has shown that he's capable of it. We know Joba has the ability and jr was very, very good as a starter for the Yanks last year. Unless you see a reason that it should change, I don't think there's much question there. Of course, just about any pitcher can/will put up better numbers as a reliever... just not more valuable ones.

My guess? 180-200 innings of slightly better than league average ball.






I don't care what happens to the Mets. :smile:

 

My point on Burnett is that he hasnt been very consistant over his career. Your right though who cares what he is getting paid. But the media does and we know if Burnett struggles there going to talk about that. He has to be able to overcome that though. And thats if he struggles.

The Joba stat line is great but the point is he has never pitched a full season in the Majors yet as a starter.

As for Andy like you said thats your guess what I posted was just questions that we need to see answered.

 

Yeah, but as a Yankee fan, why would I be concerned about what they (the media) talk about? I'd be concerned if he struggles, period. That has zero to do with his paycheck of with what the fat douchebag on WFAN has to say. If he's pretty good, I'm happy. If he's very good, I'm quite pleased. If he's downright nasty, I'm ecstatic. I see no reason to worry myself about his performance. He might not be consistently awesome, but he's shown that he is consistently well above league average.

No, but he has pitched as a starter in the major leagues, and has been a starter for most of his pitching career. The period from Fall of 2007 to Spring of 2008 was the anomaly... not the other way around. People often forget that, probably because the idiots in the media had an entire offseason to foment the "debate" about Joba's role.

Regardless, let's not act like we're entering uncharted waters here. Joba can and has performed very well as a starter. How many starts can they get out of him is another question. I don't expect more than 20 (at the most). But I do expect most of those starts to be very, very good. He's done nothing to suggest otherwise. It's not like he's working with fringe stuff.

It's a guess I feel fairly confident about, though. He's put up 200+ innings in 10 of his 14 seasons, his career average is 195 innings, and he is typically well above league average.

Let me put it another way... the things you posted aren't things that really "concern" me as a Yankee fan. If I were to list my concerns as a Yankee fan for this year, I could sum them up as follows:

1. Posada's shoulder.
2. Mo's age + shoulder.
3. Matsui's knees.
4. Burnett's shoulder/elbow.
5. Center field.
6. Joba's innings cap.
7. Cano's rebound?


The rest I don't consider serious enough to bother concerning myself with until they happen. And only #1 on that list truly concerns me. The rest I feel alright about.

 

I wouldn't worry about Rivera at all. He's coming off arguably his best season as a relief pitcher and probably one of the best relief seasons ever.

 

blaze passed out after creating this thread.

 

He's also entering his age 39 season and is coming off of a shoulder surgery (albeit a relatively minor one).

Of course, the reason it's such a big concern for me (relatively speaking, that is... I'm not really biting my nails about any of them) is that - if he's not doing well or if he goes down this season before someone else is able to establish himself, be it Bruney or Melancon or whomever - the Joba To The Pen talk will continue. And that needs to go away.

 

Joba to the pen is the most asinine argument ever. Until he proves he can't start, he should start.

I'm not particularly worried about Mariano. In years past, I would be, but we have plenty of young arms at this point if this is in fact the year that he starts to slip. But even if he starts to slip, he's got a long way to go until he's just a mortal.

 

Exactly. Which is why it's so irritating to continue to hear it. I just want it to go away.

Well, he's got a long way to go if we're just talking age-related decline. I'd be more worried about a serious injury of some kind than Mo just starting to slowly fade, due to the age + surgery thing.

And again, in absolute terms, I'm not really worried. It's a minor concern.

 

Cool.

(filler)

 

Hughes is still participating in organized baseball?
Wow, you learn something new everyday.

 

Like clockwork. Retarded clockwork.

 

I'm a Yankee fan. And I agree with them... "Joba to the pen" is the official position of the mentally challenged.