Weekly Trade Update and Thoughts on the Yankees

The weekly update on the Miguel Tejada for Luke Scott, Dennis Sarfate, Matt Albers, and Troy Patton. Patton is hurt. So here are some key stats for the other four.

(OPS= On-Base Percentage + Slugging Percentage)
(WHIP= Walks + Hits / Innings Pitched)

	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	OPS
Tejada	47	9	15	4	1	2	9	3	.939
Scott	40	3	15	6	0	1	6	5	1.044

	G	IP	W	L	K	ERA	WHIP
Albers	4	11.1	2	0	8	0.79	0.794
Sarfate	5	4.2	2	1	6	5.79	1.285

A tip of the cap to Miguel Tejada for his late game heroics this past week for the Astros. I wish him all the best. I'm still very happy with the group of players the Orioles received for Mr. B-12. Even if this was a rough week for Sarfate and Scott stopped his Ted Williams impersonation, Albers made a great start today against Toronto. So, all is well.

I Can't Believe I'm Saying This:
Theres a great Simpsons episode in which Homer becomes the mascot for the Springfield Isotopes, the local minor league baseball team. He's an instant success and after several games as a minor league mascot, Homer gets promoted to the big leagues. Arriving at the major league park in Shelbyville, Homer explains that Bart was quieter than usual because "he was confused by feelings of respect for me."

I rooted for the Yankees yesterday in their loss to the Red Sox. I even spoke the words "Go Yanks" into my cell phone. It was a confusing feeling to find myself hoping that Giambi would hit a ball into the seats, that Damon would run down a ball in center, and that A-Rod would hit one over the Green Monster. But, so help me, I really wanted the Yankees to win last night. I just can't take so much about the Red Sox anymore. When the Pinstripes take on "The Nation," I cheer for Gotham. (A small part of me still roots for an earthquake.)

Watching Phil Hughes struggle mightily yesterday to retire any of the Boston batsmen, I got to thinking about the Yankee pitching staff. ESPN helped out this train of thought by bringing up the Great Joba Debate. Now, ESPN gushing over young Mr. Chamberlein is nothing new. If I had a nickel for every time ESPN mentioned the “Joba Rules” last year I could drop out of grad school, buy beachfront property, and retire from academic/professional pursuits. By mid-September I simply wanted to shout at the TV “Look, I get it! He’s a prize pitching prospect whose arm the Yankees would like to preserve!”

There was a terrific article linked in The New York Post this week which featured an interview with Goose Gossage on the topic of Joba Chamberlein’s future. I could not agree more with Mr. Gossage. If the Yankees are serious about turning Joba into a starter this year and would like to leave him in limbo with his role gradually evolving from set-up man to starter, then, well, they deserve what they get. The Yankees seem determined to allow Ian Kennedy and Phil Hughes to grow at the big league level despite that pair's rough start this season. They've got a good thing going right now with Joba in the 8th and Rivera in the 9th. Chamberlein is also the insurance policy covering Rivera's aging arm.

To be clear, when they're not playing the Red Sox, I want the Yankees to lose and lose badly every time they take the field. But, the baseball fan in me cannot in good conscience root for a team to hose up the development of a player, Chamberlein, who could become one of the game's brightest pitching stars. If the Yankees are serious about making him a starter now and try to mutate Chamberlein into a starter this season it will either be the dumbest gamble ever to pay off or (and i think this is more likely) prove that the Bronx pitching staff is in shambles. To enact this mid-season metamorphosis without screwing with Joba's head would be tantamount to the Yankees waving the white flag this year and treating it as a development year for Hughes and Kennedy and an evolutionary year for Chamberlein. That sounds oddly like pitching staff rebuilding in New York. Would the Yankees actually do that?