jacksonianmarch

Plus, bridging the gap with Joba will be helpful to the development of the other young arms. We have some serious pen arms coming up, and if they get time to get their feet wet while Joba, Farns and Hawkins handle the middle inning load, then we could see someone rise when we move Joba to the rotation.

I dont think he is going to be used as the 8th inning guy. I think he'll be used, at most every 3rd day for 2 inning stints. So every 3rd game, he should shorten the game to 6 innings. Having him be a 1 innign setup man will be a poor way to start him out on the road to the rotation. That being said, Joba has the arsenal to be a starter. This isnt a guy who has 2 plus pitches and nothing else. Joba has the size to handle the load, and 3 plus pitches. He needs to be in the rotation.

I highly doubt they move him back and forth. His IP limit is 150 this yr, and I dont think that includes the postseason. If you assume that he'd throw 80 innings in a full yr if he stayed in the pen... 80/6= 13IP per month. If you figure he'd throw 6IP per 5 days as a starter he'd throw 36IP per month as a starter. 3 months as a reliever= 39IP 3 months as a starter= 108IP I think that is what they will do. But it doesnt take into account all factors. I'd assume they will send him down to the minors at the end of those 3 months as a reliever so he can stretch out. I'd assume it will take 16 or so days to do that. (3IP day 1, 4IP day 6, 5IP day 11, Majors for day 16)

They better be careful. Joba is such a rare talent that mucking him up could be the deathknell of a franchise.

Hope MLB forces the sox to forfeit those two games. That being said, it is a pretty classy move.

I was okay with ARod not bowling over the catcher. I'd hate to lose the MVP in a meaningless game against a meaningless team.

He might as well hit ARod every time up. ARod and for the most part, all the yankees own this guy.

He is showing you some recent examples, you just dont seem to like the point he's making so you are ignoring it. Listen, I am not in the Mussina is going to be a CY contender camp. Far from it. But he is the type of pitcher who ages well. Location, good off speed stuff, changes speeds effectively and he makes adjustments. Those who just get by on stuff do not typically age well (like Colon). That being said, in order for the Moose to get back to respectability, he needs to make even further adjustments. When he was younger, he had that running 94mph fastball and that dynamite curve. Once the heat slipped to low 90s, he added a sick changeup and became the pitcher he was at the beginning of his yankee tenure. 06 was a rennaissance yr again when Moose's heat was fading and he slowed down his off speed stuff. Last yr, the heat faded further and his approach was the problem. He'd easily get ahead 0-2 on hitters, but a 87mph FB on the outside corner isnt as effective as a 90mph FB on the corner. And his utter reluctance to use the inner half made him extremely vulnerable. Thus far, I have seen 2 of his starts. In one he was creamed, but you could tell he was working on pitches regardless of counts. In the last one I saw, he was obviously working on location and he was solid. Most of his pitches were on the inner half. If he continues that and utilizes the inner half consistently this yr, he will be much better than he was last yr. If he reverts to Pussina of last yr and strays from the inside corner, he'll be toast.

Colon threw hard today but he wasnt even close to the zone.

no kidding. And have a chief justice swear in Bobby Murcer as emperor of the evil ones on a black colored baseball. And then, we could have a massive vote to see if he should be re-elected. THEN WE CAN ALL GET OUR OFFICIAL YANKEE CARD SO WE CAN PROVE WE ARE YANKEE FANS AND ONLY FOR 19.99 WHAT A f***IN STEAL!!! CAN I ALSO GET MY POWDER BLUE HAT AND BE ON A CELL PHONE DURING THE GAME LIKE A f***ING DOUCHE!!!

Garth Brooks played a few games two separate occasions in ST. I dont have a problem with it. It is one AB of a meaningless game. Its a publicity stunt.

Lets just say, for a second here, that Wakefield meets his career averages in the middle. He isnt quite as bad as he was without Belli, but he isnt quite as good as he was with Belli due to the loss of Doug and age factoring in. That leaves him with an ERA right around 5. Is a hot/cold knuckleballer with an ERA around 5 going to be a boon to your team when right now he is being counted on as a #3?

Over the past 3 yrs... Wake's performance without Belli... 93.1IP 58ER for an ERA of 5.59 Wake's performance with Belli... 461IP 218ER for an ERA of 4.25 But the numbers bear it out, right? Yeah, that would be wrong.

Cash caught him for 2 7IP 0ER stints then Wake fell apart. BTW, I would LOVE to see the factual backing for ORS comments. Since for the most part, Wake has been MUCH worse over the past 3 yr when caught by anyone but Belli. The numbers bear it out in spades. But denial is a nice way to go. One by one that rotation shall fall...

Wake and Mirabelli were a tandem for all but 5 starts. In those 5 starts, Wake allowed 17ER in 26.2IP. Without those numbers.... Wake had a 4.60ERA with Belli Wake had a 5.73ERA without Belli And over the past few yrs, the numbers have been worse. With Wake now being counted on more than ever, this is quite a gamble.

cash will never be a good offensive player. He's already 30, it isnt like he's a young kid or anything.

If Kottaras made some strides at the end of the yr, they will do him a serious disservice by having him start once every 5 days. He needs to prove he can be a starter in the minors first. I can see a gradual handing over the power starting next yr (akin to Girardi and Posada where they split the duty and then Posada took the reigns.)

Mussina looking really good today. I dont care how hard he throws, if he starts using the inside part of the plate, he could be better than average. If he wimps out and stays on the outside corner like he did last yr, he will suck.

Kevin Cash appears to be the leading candidate for the backup job. He is worse than Belli at the plate.

http://www.bostonherald.com/blogs/sports/red_sox/index.php/2008/03/13/mirabelli-released/ wow. Wakefield is still on the team, right? Wake is terrible without Belli.

it was a bush league play. But I like retaliating. So I see no problem with it. I dont have a problem with a lot of things. I would have much rather seen a Joba ball in a players back though. Much cleaner and much more painful.

I find it funny that sox fans can call someone bush league after witnessing the past 7 or so seasons. The sox had always been the aggressors, throwing up and in without need, throwing a bat at the pitcher (Nixon), fighting at the drop of a hat. While the yankees under Torre had always been the pacifists. Now that we are acting like the aggressors, we are bush league. Do you not remember your roots?