A spring competition
January 30, 2010, 7:30 pm by iYankees · 17 Comments
According to Newsday’s Ken Davidoff, who spoke briefly with Joe Girardi tonight at the 2010 annual “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Benefit, Phil Hughes, Joba Chamberlain, Alfredo Aceves, Sergio Mitre, and Chad Gaudin will compete for the fifth spot in the team’s starting rotation during Spring Training. In reality, although Girardi told Davidoff that the competition will feature five pitchers, I’m sure the central contest will ultimately be between both Hughes and Chamberlain, with the subsequent winner of that battle slotting into the rotation behind Javier Vazquez, while the loser spends the majority of the season in the bullpen, setting up for some guy named Mariano Rivera.
UPDATE – I figured I should probably inject some personal opinion into this particular item. As I have stated in previous posts, I believe that Joba Chamberlain should be in the team’s starting rotation and that Phil Hughes, at least for 2010, should be in the bullpen. My respective conclusion is based on a number of factors, including innings limits, track record, repertoire, etc. With that said, I do think that it is wise to create a competitive environment in the spring in order to compel Joba to succeed. He should know that if he fails, there are others capable of taking his spot.
Photo by Reuters
They can’t seriously be having a competition. It has to go to Joba. Why go through everything they went through last year to get him to the appropriate numbers of IP to then turn around and put him back in the BP?
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I don’t think he’s serious about it being so open. I think Joba should and will get it, but they’ll make him fight for it (or at least will make him think that he’s fighting for it in the spring).
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Yup. I can’t see it being a real competition. It’s one of those motivational things for Joba. But I do still think Hughes could win it over Joba if he has a great showing and Joba has a poor one.
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You gotta believe that the plan is to keep Joba as a starter after the way they screwed with his head with the Joba Rules last season.
Very little could happen in ST to change that , short of Phil Hughes developing a Bugs Bunny gyro-ball that stops and starts again before it reaches home plate.
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I also agree its going to come down to Joba vs Hughes, but Girardi has to make it appear like its a competition to give all the others a “carrot” and motivation in case Joba/Hughes get injured or one gets hurt and the other is completely ineffective. Lets face it Joba/Hughes have both been uneven as SPs so keeping them motivated and not handing them anything is the right way to for their development on the Major League level.
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I’m in complete agreement. The hope is Joba has his velocity up where he needs it by the time he leaves ST and then he does a full season as a starter.
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I think you nailed it Chris…
Nothing like good hard competition, for pitchers or OF.
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Except a spring training competition is a complete joke. It’s spring training against inferior competition against teams that don’t care, and it’s a maximum of 4 of 5 starts and planning the season based on that is a horrible idea.
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Exactly – I always thought the whole idea that players won or lost their job on 20 meaningless games was a myth. Something created by mgrs so they don’t have to reveal their plans and be second-guessed for weeks before the season starts.
I’m sure there are some things they might learn – a players mechanics are off, his winter conditioning was not good ….. but they’d be pretty silly not to have formed a strong opinion/plan based on a larger breadth of more relevant experience.
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You’re making too much out of this. It was predictable for Girardi to say the spot would be up for grabs in order to push Joba for the job. You act like the competition or in this case a loaded competition won’t have any positive affect. That line of thinking is bizarre. I’m a stats guy but I also believe in intangible things like drive. I’m not sure if you’ve ever played sports before but I’d bet that Joba is invigorated by the so-called competition whether it’s legitimate or not. So it’s not a “complete joke.” if you actually think this is an all out competition that will determine the rotation spot for the entire season, you’re mistaken. I think most people in here are right when they say the purpose is to push Joba. That’s all.
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You are correct Jim. Astute analysts on this site have recognized that the competition is loaded and a motivational tool. I’m a big believer thatintangibles play a larger role on winning than many sabermetrics guys now think they play.
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You guys are all on the money.This is Joba’s year to step up ,no excuses the gloves are off.Yanks would not have gone through last years Joba rules for nothing ,that would make no sense.Joba has to be in shape and healthy to win the so called competition.
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Has anybody heard anything on Jose Molina? Do you think Yanks would sign him to a minor league deal?
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Not sure what will happen to him. I would think he’d land a role somewhere, but there’s been little interest.
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Yeah, he really fell off the map. He was never a good hitter but last season it seemed his reflexes behind the plate were off. A lot of balls got away from him that should have been blocked.
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