Another Trade Possibility To Consider

By On December 27, 2011 · 5 Comments · In Trade Musings

No word on whether or not Joba's TJS rehab includes the same Mickey Mouse workouts he did in 2010.

(The following is being syndicated from An A-Blog for A-Rod)

With all or almost all of what would have been considered “real” trade targets for the Yankees either already traded or re-signed, it’s looking like a near certainty that we won’t be seeing any new rotation arms for 2012.  But there is one guy on the Yankees’ roster who could bring back some value in a trade and actually might make sense to move.  That guy is Joba Chamberlain.  I know he’s still injured and won’t be pitching until some time in the summer of 2012, but early reports have him ahead of schedule in his rehab, and at this point he might hold more value to the Yankees as a trade piece than as a piece of the 25-man roster.

The “Joba as a Starter” experiment has already been conducted by the Yankees, and despite there still being pleas from those in the Yankosphere to give it another go, the Yankees have never shown interest in reviving that option.  They’re set with their 5-man rotation right now and have Hector Noesi on standby as the 6th starter if/when needed.  And with the emergence of D-Rob in the bullpen in 2011, it’s suddenly become a little crowded at that inn as well.  Joba would be looking at another partial season behind Mo, two more years behind Soriano and multiple years behind D-Rob before he could be considered a serious contender for even a setup role.  And with the Yankees already having a stockpile of young arms who can step in and cover middle relief innings, Joba becomes less important as an insurance policy and space filler in that role.

And yet, by the time he is fully recovered from his Tommy John Surgery, Joba will still be a 26-year-old power arm with experience as a starter.  Last time I checked, the Yankees weren’t the only team in need of starting pitching help, and Joba is dangerously close to becoming an afterthought in the Yankee organization for the reasons mentioned above, so why not try to stir up some interest around baseball and see if there’s a market for him?  I’m not saying they SHOULD move Joba, but if Cash was trying to sell people on Francisco Cervelli earlier in the offseason, he might as well see what the market is, if there even is one, for Chamberlain.  They won’t get the value in return that they would have a couple years ago, but you have to think Joba could bring back more than A.J.

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5 Responses to Another Trade Possibility To Consider

  1. David says:
    December 27, 2011 at 12:24 pm

    I must admit that Jaba is a luxury right now, and I had not considered trading him. while trading him might return something good in this market, I think he is worth more as insurance in the minors.But I agree with you it would not hurt to see what is out there.

    Reply
  2. Matt DiBari says:
    December 27, 2011 at 12:29 pm

    I don’t know. “Joba as a Starter experiment has already been conducted by the Yankees” suggests that the Joba as a Starter experiment has already been conducted by the Yankees.

    What we saw was the Yankees completely jerking him around based on some completely arbitrary “innings limit” that not only didn’t help him develop into a starter, but did nothing to keep him healthy. (Bang up job it did with Phil Hughes too, by the way. I can’t wait until this proven method gets used for the next generation).

    Between the circus three inning starts, the skipped starts, the *mystery* starts (where the manager of the team was on the record saying they weren’t even going to tell him when his next start was going to be) and everything else we did in some neurotic attempt to keep from creating the next Mark Prior (again, just a bang up job) we let the man start 43 games over two years and gave up for good, resigned to creating a right handed middle reliever out of a starting pitching prospect. Something I’m sure we’ll be saying about Phil Hughes soon enough too.

    The best thing that can happen to Joba Chamberlain is getting out of this organization.

    Reply
    • Brad Vietrogoski says:
      December 27, 2011 at 2:32 pm

      Good point, Matt. I guess I should have been more specific and said, “the completely ass backwards, non-sensical Joba as a Starter experiment has been conducted by the Yankees.”

      I think you’d be hard pressed to find anybody out there who thinks the Yanks handled Joba correctly. My statement was meant to point out the fact that in the Yankees’ minds they’ve tried him out as a starter, but the details you mentioned make the description of that tryout much more accurate.

      Reply
  3. Joe says:
    December 27, 2011 at 2:47 pm

    This would be the worst time to trade Joba, coming off of arm surgery. Wait till he shows that he could still pitch, then try to maximize your return.

    Reply
  4. Marte williams says:
    December 30, 2011 at 1:08 pm

    Saddle the boy up, let him re-hab and leave him be. Just might surprise a few people when he gets a chance . Yanks got nothin to lose. Just let him pitch for once, no special rules

    Reply

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