Yanks may have an “Ace” for the 5th spot
March 16th, 2010 | by Mike Martino |To date, the pitcher being overlooked in the Joba vs. Hughes battle is Alfredo Aceves. The New York Post had an article today stating that Aceves has the early lead in the battle for the 5th spot. Of course the Yankees brass would never tip their hand but if this did happen it would give the Yanks one of the best setup combinations in baseball and one of the top 3 bullpens in baseball with: Joba, Hughes, Robertson, Marte, and Park. This alignment will be similiar to the 2009 postseason and could be fun to watch for an entire season. It would bring back memories of the loaded pen of Nelson, Stanton, and Mendoza in their march to 100 wins.
It was learned this spring that Aceves has been dealing with some back issues and has been treated for them during the off season. By making Ace a starter it will limit the stress on his back by skipping the daily routine of a relief pitcher by getting up and down in the bullpen and pitching on consecutive days. Aceves has made it been know he prefers to start, and with Gaudin/Mitre battling for the last spot in the pen it safe guards against the versatility Ace brought to the long man role when he could go more than a few innings. Girardi indicated that he prefers a long man in the pen, something we saw last year and something Torre got away from at the end of his Yankee run.
Word out of New York and on the radio is that Joba will in fact go back to the pen within the week. Keep in mind this is all speculative, but if your Cashman the only issue from here on out is why would there be “Joba Rules” if the thought process was to put Joba back in the pen. Why make him continue to make a start every 5th or 6th day and limit his innings if the plan was to put him back in short relief. So to some extent the front office has prepared for Joba to start this year, but Joba hasn’t separated himself yet.
If Hughes were to win the job out of the spring then he too would be on the “Joba Rules.” So at some point in the season Hughes would be heading back to the pen as well. It is a delicate balance between the two young pitchers because in the back of Cashman’s mind he wants to repeat as champions but also wants to develop homegrown starting pitchers.
With Joba not having to confide to the rules it would be interesting to see him make a start ever 5th day, but with his early bout with the flu and the lack of velocity this early in camp he is clearly behind Aceves and Hughes.
In an ideal world and probably on any team but New York one of the losing starters would go back to triple AAA and make a start every 5th day. But by doing that the Yankees would not have their best team.
Remember this is New York and the fans want to win every year that is the mission statement of the New York Yankees. With a tough schedule to start the season we might very well see Joba and Hughes in the pen and this would be great for 2010 but not for the future.
Remember if the season goes as planned, and more times than not it doesn’t, then all the pitchers mentioned above will be in the bullpen for the postseason unless their is an injury to the top 4 in the rotation. In that case, Who would you rather have starting Game 4 of the 2010 ALCS? Joba, Hughes, Aceves or Guadin/Mitre? It’s a nice problem to have.
By Dave on Mar 16, 2010
The Yanks have enough evidence that indicates Joba’s best role is in the pen as the heir apparent to Mariano.
To me, Hughes is the no brainer for the No. 5 spot (given his mental makeup and repertoire of pitches).
Aceves’ best value is in long relief or as an injury replacement.
The Yankees should settle this now – would rather have Opening Day be a celebration of 2009 than an “NCAA Tournament” argument about who is in and who is out.
By Craig Williams on Mar 19, 2010
How do you figure that there is enough evidence to support the idea that a 24 year old with under 300 innings of MLB experience permanently belongs in the bullpen? I can certainly understand the “win-now” culture around the Yankees and the fan base, but we can’t let that trick us into thinking that Joba belongs in the bullpen – not yet at least. At some point, maybe he will end up in the bullpen for any number of reasons. Who knows? For now though, the Yankees NEED to develop him as a starting pitcher. That goes for Hughes as well. Young pitchers in their prime are not easy to come by, and if we are going to keep pace with the rest of our division – including the O’s – we are going to need to develop our share of guys. That statement may sound a bit silly considering our league leading payroll, but teams are developing their starting pitchers and locking them up relatively early in their careers. Guys like Josh Johnson, Zack Greinke, Felix Hernandez and others are not going to be available for the Yankees on the FA market in the short term. Therefore, we need to develop our own version(s) of those guys. Thankfully, we’ve got two guys who could develop into the type of pitchers capable of anchoring a rotation. This is why Phil Hughes AND Joba Chamberlain need to be – and ultimately will be – groomed and treated as starting pitchers.