Oh no, not this s*** again

From Tyler Kepner:

It is all about the math with Joba Chamberlain, and the math does not add up for him to open next season in the Yankees’ starting rotation.

“He had an innings limit this year he didn’t meet,” General Manager Brian Cashman said. “Will he exceed that innings limit next year? You wouldn’t want to do that. You’ve still got to protect the player.”

Cashman stressed that the Yankees had not discussed the specifics of next season’s plan for Chamberlain. But he was scheduled to throw roughly 140 innings this season and has thrown only 90 1/3 after missing almost a month with a rotator cuff injury.

“We do believe you can put some guys in jeopardy by putting way too much on them,” Cashman said. “If someone is adding a significant amount of innings from a previous season, history says those guys will have a breakdown or a significant underperformance the next year.”

I understand the Yankees want to be cautious with an arm like Joba , but even if they sign Sabathia and another pitcher next season the Yankees are still going to need Joba to be a starter.

First of all, Joba is way too good a starting pitch to not maximize what you can get out of him.
Second, who knows if the in-season transition from reliever to starter had anything to do with his recent bout with tendinitis. It's too risky to try that again. And finally, can the Yankees really head into '09 relying on guys like Hughes or Kennedy? The answer is no, they can't.

My ideal '09 opening day rotation would be Sabathia, Wang, Joba, Moose, Pettitte/other free agent. This is what the Yankees should be shooting for.

To me there is an easy solution to this, and it's winter ball. Send Joba to winter ball, have him build up his innings there, and then head into '09 with Joba in the rotation. The article does state that Cashman said there was a chance Joba could play winter ball, so hopefully that's the road the Yankees decide to take.