Trading Joba in the winter

Via Ken Davidoff of Newsday:

Joba Chamberlain has slipped down the Yankees’ food chain, and it’ll be interesting to see what happens with him this winter. He’s eligible for salary arbitration, so he’ll be due for a raise. Will the Yankees at least listen to offers on him? Wouldn’t surprise me at all if they do.

Does anyone actually think that the Yankees will shift Joba back to the starting rotation come 2011? Anyone?

If the organization believes him to be a reliever and nothing more — Billy Eppler, the team’s director of professional scouting has already indicated that to be the case — than they should consider shopping him as a starter/reliever this winter in order to assess his value on the market. Despite having had an effective 2010 campaign according to more perceptive stats like FIP (2.98), xFIP (3.34) and BABIP (Joba had a bloated .342 mark), it appears Joba’s overall value has taken a sizable hit, as he posted a 4.40 ERA and lacked life on his fastball for most of the year.

Back in March, I had advocated for trading Joba prior to the start of the season. At that time, his stock as a reliever wasn’t tarnished and the performance issues he had experienced in 2009 were often attributed to the erratic way in which the Yankees had developed his once golden arm. If the Yankees make Joba available this winter only to see that his stock has, indeed, fallen considerably, then they would be better served holding onto him (even if he is due for a raise). If his market doesn’t bear any interesting fruit or provide any return, why move him? Also, from August on, Joba struck out 27 over 26 2/3 IP while walking 5, and he held opposing batters to a .200/.245/.350 line.

If his value is down, you might as well hope for a bounce-back year in 2011, right (even if he’s a just a reliever)?

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