One hundred eighty-seven MLB players were surveyed to answer the question — who is the most overrated player in baseball?
Keep in mind that when determining whether a player is overrated or not, evaluation is not the sole factor — public opinion also needs to be weighed in.
Earlier this week, I took a look at one of the primary concerns for the Yankees as they head into the dog days of summer, the suddenly fragile state of the starting rotation. In the subsequent games since my article, we have been treated to a well-diversified display of the myriad issues facing the Yankees starting pitching.
In the week of games since the Tampa Bay series, the rotation has had its share of ups and downs, which is certainly not an uncommon occurrence for any rotation. The timing of this recent run, though, helps to magnify the uneasy feelings regarding the starters.
With exactly one week left before the July 31 trading deadline, Yankee brass must decide if they are comfortable sticking with the current configuration: Sabathia, Burnett, Mitre in place of Pettitte, Vazquez, and Hughes.
Mitre showed yesterday, via his batting practice session that he tossed to the Kansas City offense, that he may be better suited for the bullpen than a starting role. Granted, he just returned from over a month on the disabled list, so being thrust into a start as a replacement for the thus-far stellar Andy Pettitte is not as simple as us fans would like it to be.
Phil Hughes, in his last start against the Angels, continued on his downward trending path that he has embarked upon since mid-June. Showing little command of most of his pitches, Hughes walked three and was pounded for nine hits, including two home runs, as he allowed six runs in five innings, en route to his third loss of the season.
Just today, Hughes again trudged through five and third innings, allowing two more home runs, but left the game in line for the win.
Javy Vazquez showed further signs of personal improvement against the Angels, only to regress in effectiveness as the start wore on, eventually allowing five runs on nine hits over only five innings. Fortunate to pitch on a day that the Yankee offense provided ample run support, he was able to pick up the win, but it didn’t mask the inconsistency of his outing.
As of yesterday, Andy Pettitte was already reporting that his groin strain is improving quickly and that he doesn’t expect to be sidelined for the previously estimated four to five weeks. Of course, players are often difficult to gauge when trying to predict injury recovery times, as they are usually eager to return to action as soon possible and may not always consider the long-term consequences of rushing back from injury.
The team will likely employ the cautious approach with the 38-year-old veteran and it should be noted that he has yet to throw from a mound, so although he may be feeling better, he hasn’t truly tested the injury to know whether it may be ready to withstand the rigors of game action.
It has been widely reported that the Yankees have been in contact with various teams regarding a variety of starters who may be available via trade over the next week. The Andy Pettitte injury seemed to heighten the possibility of the Yankees exploring starting pitching options in the trade market.
Even if Pettitte won’t be out as long-term as the team doctors initially postulated, a trade for a starter could serve to bolster the Yankees pitching staff in multiple areas.
As the baseball world is well aware, the Yankees intend to limit the wear on Phil Hughes’s young arm by closely monitoring his innings as the season progresses. Hughes is now entering uncharted territory as a major league pitcher as he is now at 106 innings, 14 more than his 2009 total, which includes his postseason outings.
Although it has never been explicitly stated by the team, it is widely believed that the Yankees intend to limit Hughes to the 150-160 inning range.
Considering the fact that Hughes may only have 40-50 more innings before he reaches his intended cap for this season, some creative thinking might become necessary to achieve that predetermined goal.
At this point, the Yankees may try to tinker with his routine and skip a start or two, but just as recently as last year, the team faced trouble when applying the same strategy to Joba Chamberlain. Many in the game view that as the reasoning behind Joba’s unraveling down the stretch, and the team may be reluctant to revisit the same plan with Hughes.
This is where the trade deadline options come into play. In light of the Pettitte injury, the Yankees were already exploring their potential trade options, whether in the form of Oswalt, Haren, Lilly, Sheets, or a few others. Any of these veteran hurlers could have possibly helped cover for Pettitte as he makes his way back from his groin injury.
Now, though, even if Andy returns sooner than expected, the addition of a veteran starting pitcher could help to address two of the team’s most obvious needs with one personnel transaction.
With the continuing struggles of Joba Chamberlain, and his inability to confidently stake claim to the eighth inning setup role, there is clearly a glaring void in the ranks of the team’s late bullpen arms as well as in the starting rotation.
Considering the absence of Alfredo Aceves, the slow return to 2009 form of David Robertson, and the fact that Damaso Marte is most suitable for a left-handed specialist role, there is not a clear in-house favorite to assume ownership of the critical primary setup job.
If the Yankees were inclined to enter the fray of the pre-deadline trading market, a move for a veteran starter could help cover for the injured Pettitte in the short-term, while allowing Phil Hughes to also make a few more starts.
Once Andy Pettitte returns from his stint on the disabled list, having another veteran arm could then allow Phil Hughes to return to the eighth inning role, allowing him to get closer to his proposed inning limit while still continuing to pitch out of the bullpen.
Phil Hughes thrived in the setup role last season, one of the keys to the 2009 Yankee Championship run in the eyes of many observers. Returning him to the familiar role for the remainder of the 2010 season could serve to once again solidify the bridge to Mariano that has been sorely lacking thus far.
It would also give the Yankees an easier way to maintain Hughes’s innings limit without venturing into the awkward territory of attempting to skip his starts or truncate his outings, a la the bizarre Joba Rules experiment of late last year.
I can’t imagine anyone in the Bronx or the Yankees’ Tampa complex feeling comfortable heading down the stretch relying on the current bullpen configuration to help successfully defend the World Series title. I don’t want to lay it all on Joba, but his wild, pendulum-like swings from dominance to utter ineffectiveness clearly are not the answer for now.
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Nothing really happened between the Yankees and the Diamondbacks regrading RHP Dan Haren today. That hasn’t stopped the usual suspects from passing along information they’ve heard throughout the day.
Early morning reports
Buster Olney of ESPN tweeted :
To be clear: The Yankees do not value Haren as much as they valued Cliff Lee a couple of weeks ago. They look at Haren as a somewhat risky proposition, because of his performance this year, and they are not willing to take the contract and give up a boatload of prospects. (second tweet ).
Jon Heyman of Sports Illustrated tweeted :
yankees willing to include nova, mcallister and 2 prospects for dan haren, will not eat $ and give up joba. still talking.
yankees would pay the $33 mil left on haren, but they have balked at taking chad qualls, chris snyder, too.
Ken Rosenthal of Fox Sports tweeted :
Yankees not on Oswalt, remain open on Haren. “Would do something pretty significant” to get him, source says.
Bob Klapisch of the Bergin Record tweeted :
Yanks refusing to include Joba in any potential swap for Haren. Talks are ongoing.
Afternoon update
Here is what Olney had this afternoon :
Heard this: No conversations today between Arizona and the Yankees. The NYY scoffed at reports that they were in the lead of the Haren negotiations, because they have never been close to completing a deal to this point. (second tweet ).
Thoughts
It’s interesting that the Yankees won’t include Joba in this deal. Maybe they still really like him. Maybe they are counting on him in the bullpen this year. Maybe they just don’t like Dan Haren that much and think they can get more for Joba.
It does sound like the Yankees might be willing to include Joba in a deal if the D-Backs were willing to include money in the deal to offset the $29 million Haren is guaranteed over the next two years.
It does not sound particularly promising at this point, but there is still a chance. The latest report is that they haven’t talked today, but for all we know they could be discussing a deal right now. We’ll just have to wait and see. If the Yankees can get Haren for a package centered around Nova and McAllister they would be stupid not to take it.
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Despite General Manager Brian Cashman’s continued claim that the Yankees do not need another starting pitcher, the team continues to pursue the top names.
New York is reportedly actively pursuing Arizona Diamondbacks’ starter Dan Haren. The two teams have gone as far as naming names and proposing deals. An agreement has not been made as of yet.
Arizona asked for struggling reliever Joba Chamberlain, highly regarded pitching prospect Ivan Nova, and two other prospects in return for Haren. The Yankees countered with a package entirely made of prospects.
The main issue appears to be the Diamondbacks asking the Yankees to pay the full $33 million remaining on Haren’s contract. New York may be willing to eat money, but not also include Chamberlain in that type of deal.
Continue reading this article at Double G Sports .
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According to Jayson Stark of ESPN , the Yankees were never actually as close to landing the Diamondback’s ace starter Dan Haren as reporters made it sound last night.
Stark reports that the Yankees rejected a deal that would have been centered around Joba Chamberlain, Ivan Nova, and two other prospects. The Yanks countered with a deal that didn’t include Joba and that appears to be where the deal fell apart.
Another issue, according to Stark, was over money. Haren is guaranteed at least $29 million ($33 million including the remainder of this season’s salary). The D-Backs wanted the Yankees to pay that salary in its entirety, but the Yankees expected some sort of discount on the prospects to do that.
It’s a shame that this deal broke down because the Yankees refused to trade Joba. As a reliever, he’s worth much less to the Yankees than Haren would have been as a front of the line starter. The reason they probably wanted an all-prospects deal or nothing was about not hurting their chances at winning a World Series this season.
They might realize that it would be a fair deal to send Joba away for the likes of Haren, but the idea of removing Joba from the bullpen would hurt. Sure, they could have moved Phil Hughes into the pen, but that would only be temporary and for this season. There would be no clear replacement for Joba any time soon while they can just go out and sign Cliff Lee this offseason for rotation help.
At least that’s my take on the situation. The bottom line is that the Yankees didn’t want to include Joba in a deal, so there is no deal.
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Andy Pettitte thinks he can be back on the mound in three weeks.
After watching the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim slaughter the New York Yankees, any encouragement that the team could manage without the Southpaw went right out the window.
Phil Hughes went into the game with a 3-0 career record against the Halos. That was short and sweet after Hughes gave up nine hits, six runs and two home runs over five innings.
It was the icing on the cake on this streak of bad luck the Yankees have had since the start of the second half of the season.
Hughes started the season on fire, but he has been declining over the last month. His velocity is still around the mid to low 90’s, but he continually lacks command of his fastball and in turn not getting strikes.
So, Hughes relied on his cutter again, which has never been completely in control. If the pitch doesn’t cut down, it becomes ineffective and easy to hit. This became a fact with the final score reading 10-2.
The Yankees had a shot to win the game with their bats, but Angels rookie Sean O’Sullivan had a different plan after being called up earlier in the day from Triple-A. He replaced ex-Ray Scott Kazmir, who just went on the DL.
O’Sullivan faced 22 Yankee batters, throwing a total of 85 pitches, over six innings. He struck out four, walked three and allowed the only two runs to score in the first inning.
Nick Swisher smacked a homer in the bottom of the first inning.
Swisher, along with Robinson Cano and Brett Gardner, has been one of the most solid Yankees in 2010. Honestly, without Swisher’s bat the Yankees would not be in first place right now.
That was No. 17 on the season for Swisher, his ninth in the Bronx, which is one more then last season’s total.
Now the Angels are looking to sweep this mini-series. The Halos’ odds are in their favor with Joel Pineiro on the mound. Pineiro has been fabulous this season, and he faces the Yankees’ Javier Vazquez.
Vazquez has been pitching great as of late, but the Yankees have to hit. Even if they get a couple of runs, the Yankee bullpen stinks for the most part.
I wish Joe Girardi would let Joba go two or three innings for a couple of games. Joba did start last year, has four pitches and was dominant in the first three innings in last year’s games.
The team needs to give their pitchers some run support to relieve the pressure, but in this match-up, the bats have to be hot.
My other suggestion would be trying Joba out as the Yankees long reliever. Maybe he could be the Phil Hughes of 2010 and be the vital change needed.
It would be giving Joba responsibility again, but for about four to five games. If the Yankees owe anyone a few chances, Joba’s name would be at the top of the list. He deserves to see if it could work.
See, when the opposing team is the Halos, who have the most successful record against the Yankees since 2001, the Yankee bats cannot afford to go dead.
Might as well pretend your in heaven or hell….whichever works.
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New York Yankees fans first fell in love with Joba Chamberlain in Game Two of the 2007 ALDS, also known as the infamous “bug” game.
Joba was everything and more that night. It was the spirit in his young eyes that does not come around that often.
Yankees Universe went totally crazy for this kid that night, even making losing the game bearable. Joba was the future, an authentic, talented, home-grown player that Yankee fans had been waiting for since 1996.
New York City saw Joba as the long and overdue messiah of our most coveted sports franchise. Finally, fans could be proud again.
Joba became a hero before learning how to be an MLB pitcher. Mind you, Joba hails from a small town in Nebraska, so imagine adjusting to New York. He was thrown into playing under baseball’s biggest spotlight, facing the hard-ass NYC media and the expectations of the Yankees fan-base.
Even though, Joba came-up alongside his rookie buddy Phil Hughes, it was all about Joba. Hughes did not seem to mind being in Joba’s shadow. In turn, Hughes was deemed as the less-talented, so he went out and earned the team’s trust. Which has concluded to be Hughes greatest asset.
Joba had the pressure on his shoulders and the Yankees cut him no break. Joba was going to be a starter, as the Yankees went bananas by treating him like a baby.
All the attention caused a media spectacle, evaluating Joba’s every move. The problem was that Joba’s mistakes were not excused as a rookie with growing pains. The prematurely crowned star’s errors were marked as failures, which was not fair and stunted his growth.
In 2009, the Yankees pushed Joba into the starting position but never let him stay in the game long enough to work his way out of tough situations. It made no sense after watching Joba succeed in the height of competition. This kid had a fist pump that rivaled New York Mets closer K-rod act.
Most MLB closers, other than the great Mariano Rivera who’s humble spirit is rarefied air, get-off on the pressure of the game on the line. K-rod to Braxton to Papelbaum all have that same manner that Joba first had.
Now, the media, fans, and Yankees have tossed Joba in the bullpen after ruining his faith. Joba might not even admit to it, but it is the reason why he is struggling now and Phil Hughes is not.
It was just as obvious that Hughes had the mind-set of a starter, but the Yankees’ determination to mold Joba into what was advantageous for them is what off-set his promise.
Joba has a powerful arm, as he features four pitches: a fastball-slide in the high 90’s, a hard-breaking slider, a change-up that he has not been using as much and a change-up off-speed pitch.
A closer typically needs a hard fastball and a specialty pitch. Joba has forgotten how to command his slider because he worked on an off-speed pitch for left-handed hitters.
It never worked as Joba got rocked as a starter, while Phil Hughes kicked-butt in the bullpen. Joba ended 2009 with a 4.75 ERA and loaded the bases with his high walk-rate. Whenever he struggled, Joe Girardi pulled him. The rationale behind doing that is still a mystery to me.
Currently, Joba is struggling as Rivera’s set-up guy in the eighth inning. I suppose it is difficult for him not to get on the mound that much, while watching Hughes become an All-Star and to see that he was voted most overrated player by an ESPN Magazine poll.
This kid has the goods to be great, I have witnessed it several times in person. The Yankees seem to feel no guilt. Yankee fans have the guts to boo him as he jogs out from the bullpen, and the media has turned on him as well.
What is the right thing to do?
An old saying comes to mind, “If you have nothing nice to say, do not say anything at all.”
Joba Chamberlain deserves to falter, while still hearing cheers by fans in the Bronx and if that is to hard for the “haters” then repeat the quote above.
The Yankees planned to put this kid on a pedestal, and handed him on a silver platter to the arctic NY media by exploiting “The Joba Rules.”
Personally, I like Joba and always have stood by the conclusion that he will fill the shoes of Rivera remarkably well. I mean Sergio Mitre is treated more like a Yankee than Joba, but he is the teacher’s pet.
Look, the point is it is our turn to get this right. Yankee Universe needs to be sensitive to Joba and make him feel necessary again. Just try and remember the kid we saw on the mound the day of the “bug” game.
Read more on my blog…..
Lady Loves Pinstripes.
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That Joba bravado has been replaced by inconsistent relief pitching.
It’s clear the New York Yankees’ constant juggling of roles, responsibilities, and pitch counts have messed with Joba Chamberlain’s head.
Today’s Joba isn’t the same Joba who, at the age of 21, made his MLB debut in 2007 throwing fire out of the Yankee bullpen. Joba set the American League on its ear that year with a 2-0 record and a 0.38 ERA in 19 appearances. If not for a swarm of midges in Cleveland, he would have been a playoff hero as well.
The Yankees instituted the ill-famed “Joba Rules” that year and made Chamberlain a starter in 2008. And his career has gone in reverse ever since.
Chamberlain failed to win a starting spot in spring training this year and was moved back to the bullpen, presumably to re-inherit his dominant eighth inning setup role of 2007.
More than halfway through the season, it hasn’t happened.
This season began well enough for Joba, who had a 1-1 record and a 2.16 ERA as late as May 14. That night, he struck out the side and earned his only win of the season, against Minnesota.
Joba’s Blowups :
Since then, he’s been highly unreliable, to be kind. Here’s a litany of Joba’s recent blowups:
“I have to limit the damage,” Joba said. “It’s either been really good, or given up three or four runs. (In the second half of the season) I want to limit the damage and continue to get better to do things that are going to help this team win.”
Chamberlain’s ERA is now 5.77. In fact, his ERA has gone up every year since 2007; it was 2.60 in 2008 and 4.75 in 2009. That’s a striking indicator of Joba’s decline.
And as if they haven’t messed with Joba’s head enough these past three seasons, the Yankees have now put him on notice.
“I’m not saying on a daily basis we’re going to change our eighth inning guy, but you have to earn your rules here,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said recently. “And we evaluate on a regular basis.”
Translation: Start pitching better in the second half Joba, or you’ll slip down in the bullpen pecking order. The bridge to closer Mariano Rivera needs to be better than you’ve given us so far.
MLB players don’t think Joba is all that good either. In a recent anonymous poll in Sports Illustrated , 12 percent of all players said Joba was the most overrated player in the game.
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The Yankees’ starting rotation has been one of their strengths, but lately we’ve seen AJ Burnett leave a game early because of a self inflicted wound and Andy Pettitte limping off the mound. Now, there are real questions to be answered.
Here are some notes:
I would really like to see Joba get some starts in the rotation, but the bullpen has been awful and despite his inconsistencies, the Yankees cannot afford not to have him out there.
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The Bronx Bombers are in first place in the AL East with the best record in baseball heading into the second half of the season, which starts tonight versus the second place Tampa Bay Rays.
But there are several Yankees who aren’t in the New York Groove quite yet and need to pick up the slack as the season moves into the second half.
By no means do the Yankees absolutely “need” these players to improve in order to win the division, obviously they are already in first place, but if the Bombers want to see their 28th title come this year, then these players do need to step it up a notch.