Steve S from The Yankee U questioned the blogosphere about what they believe the Yankees should do with Joba Chamberlain. Here is what yours truly had to say:

I would love to trade Joba since I think he will never realize his potential. Reality is such that his value is at an all time low. At this point he couldn’t be the centerpiece of any type of quality package. The only option is to send him  down to Scranton – where he should have spent all of last season- and have him work on two things 1) ability to compose himself on the mound and most important 2) repeat his mechanics on a consistent basis. Once he does that the sky is the limit. The other night the MLB Network was showing Mariano Rivera working with Joba on his delivery before the game. If he can’t learn from the greatest closer of all time I am not sure Scott Aldred is going to make a difference. Regardless, it’s their only hope to save him.

The majority of the panel believes they should either send him down or work him through his problems in low leverage situations. Everyone seems to be in agreement that trading him would be foolish since he is at his all time lowest value. NYBD contributor Frank Russo believes, based on his information, that Arizona wasn’t all that sold on Joba as part of the proposed Dan Haren package. That’s not why a deal wasn’t made, but interesting how low his stock has fallen.

One difference of opinion came from Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports Hardball Talk. He spoke about Joba’s high BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) as just a component of him being “unlucky” and the Yanks shouldn’t do anything. Calcaterra is correct, sort of, since he does tend to get dinked around in outings. The problem is he compounds those situations with his shortcomings. Friday night against Kansas City at the Stadium is a perfect example. A couple of infield hits and a walk later the bases are loaded. Joba started to slow his pace as soon as he got into trouble and looked uncomfortable the entire inning. Even though he got out of it unscathed, it was one of the most painful innings to watch all season. Point being his lack of composure and poor mechanics are leading to him falling behind the count and throwing more hittable pitches, thus the high BABIP (.393). I tend to believe this is more prevalent when things go against him in a ballgame (like cheap hits). Of course, that isn’t the case for all pitchers, but anyone who watches Joba would agree his struggles are not just luck induced as Calcaterra believes. That is a perfect case of letting the stats drive the player instead of seeing how the player is creating his numbers.

I sound like a broken record, but 2007 ruined Joba (although it got the Yankees a playoff berth) and he should have spent a good chunk of 2009 in Scranton. Perhaps the story would be different today. Hopefully the Yankees learned a valuable lesson and don’t repeat it with pitchers like David Phelps, Ivan Nova, and Hector Noesi.

Tags: Joba Chamberlain, New York Yankees