How to Use Joba, Part 75827

After Joba's dominating performance yesterday there were several articles this morning discussing Joba's role, and everyone wants him to stay in the pen, which is fine, for 2008.

To shorten games to six innings this season will give this Yankee team a much better chance of winning, nobody can deny that. Rays manager Joe Maddon said yesterday, "You can't give that bullpen a late lead. It is going to be very tough to beat them." This is the type of fear you want to instill on the opposition, it's the reason the Yankees won in 1996.

The Yankees will not win in 2008 if Joba is taken out of the pen mid-season, sent to the minors, and starts for the final two months. Not only will it leave a large hole in the back of the bullpen, but it will mess with the players' confidence. As a fan, I know how I feel when the Yankees have a lead in the 7th now, and I remember how I felt when they had the lead in the 7th before Joba. I can’t imagine the players feeling any differently – they know Kyle Farnsworth stinks.

The key to this strategy is to get Joba enough innings where it is still possible for him to start in 2009 and beyond. They need to use him this year, the way they used Mariano in 1996. Mo threw 107.1 innings in '96, and was only used on two days in a row seven times, and three days in a row once. Here is his game log from that season. The Yankees want Joba to throw 140 innings this season, and if they can get him around 115-120 innings + however many innings he would pitch in October, I don’t think his growth as a pitcher would be too stunted. Joba cannot throw only 70-80 innings this year.

The Yankees should spend this season working on finding, or developing a replacement for Joba for next season. A guy like Mark Melancon or Humberto Sanchez could be groomed for that role, and tested toward the end of the year, when the rosters expand to 40. People have even said that Melancon could be a replacement for Mo. Who knows, maybe they could even sign a guy like Francisco Rodriguez with the promise that he would replace Mo as closer after his current contract is up.

I still believe that Joba is the Yankees future ace, the ace we've all been looking, the Josh Beckett 2007 kind of ace. Cashman and many others within the organization feel the same way. The plan to make him a starter should not be abandoned, but once the Yanks started the season with Joba in the pen (they should have starting with him in the rotation and move him into the pen around July) they put themselves in a position where they must keep him there.