The addition of Javier Vazquez to the Yankees rotation now means that either Joba or Phil Hughes will now be pitching out of the bullpen come 2010. While there are pros and cons for using both pitcher out of the pen, it makes more sense to continue to use Hughes as the “Bridge to Mariano” rather than Joba.

First off, if you believe what the Yankees have been saying all along about Chamberlain, he is now officially done with the “Joba Rules.” If this is true, and we have no reason to believe otherwise, then Chamberlain should now be allowed to prove once and for all that he can be an effective full-time starter.

Despite his struggles in the playoffs, Phil Hughes is, at the present time, a much better fit for the bullpen, not only because of the innings limitations he is under, but also because of his comfort level there. In fact, our main Yankees source recently told us, “‘Hughsie’ really loves being in the pen and pitching in front of Rivera.” He loves going out there and letting it fly, not having to think, plus, ‘Mo’ has been a real mentor to him. It really is a perfect situation.”

There are many Yankees fans who strongly believe that the team should have inserted both Hughes and Chamberlain in the rotation and utilized in-house options to fill the “Bridge to Mariano,” but in truth, that was never really an option for Brian Cashman. Putting both young hurlers back in the rotation would have critically hurt the bullpen, and possibly forced Cashman to overpay for one of the numerous free agent relievers on the market, something that he was never willing to do.

It remains to be seen if Joba Chamberlain will ever become the “phenom” starting pitcher that his faithful “acolytes” predict he will become. In my opinion, the simplest way to find out is to put him in the rotation and keep him there until he succeeds or fails. It’s the type of simple formula that is almost full-proof.

Tags: Brian Cashman, Javier Vazquez, Joba Chamberlain, Mariano Rivera, New York Yankees, Phil Hughes