I remember when I saw the movie Amistad, I was frustrated that Steven Spielberg didn’t use his cast effectively.
He gave several of the movies biggest and most emotional moments to Matthew McConaughey… and as I wrote before, McConaughey is good at SOME things, but he was out of his element delivering the big moments.
Meanwhile, Morgan Freeman was in the cast and given virtually nothing to do. Now I am going to go out on a limb and say that an actor of Morgan Freeman’s talents were better suited for dramatic speeches than Wooderson from Dazed and Confused.
Well there is a similar waste of talent going on in Cincinnati.
Francisco Cordero is awful. AWFUL and they have a fire baller in Aroldis Chapman just sitting in the bullpen.
The guy hasn’t let up a run yet and chances are any NL opponent won’t have much of a scouting report on him come playoff time.
Think K-Rod in 2002… think Adam Wainwright in 2006… think David Price shutting down the Red Sox inevitable comeback in 2008.
Each of those teams had a steady veteran who had more experience… and each of those managers went with the young kid and bang… each played in the World Series.
And two of them are Cy Young contenders this year. (OK, the other beat up an elderly man, but that’s not important.)
Seriously, it is the only merciful thing to do at this point.
Joba burst onto the scene in 2007 as the next dynamic pitcher in the Bronx.
And every single year since, people have been wringing their hands debating about whether he should start or relieve.
And now 3 seasons later… he’s been transformed into a potential #5 starter after having a rough post season as a reliever.
As I wrote when I compared him to Matthew McConaughey, his stats show he puts up great numbers as a reliever and mediocre numbers as a starter. If, after 2 and a half seasons, Joba was even decent in the rotation, he’d be at least a #4 starter at this point.
Instead we have more hand wringing.
Remember when people were saying Joba was an ace in the making? Remember when the “keep Joba in the rotation” crowd kept saying how the bullpen was wasting his talent?
This blogger wrote the wonderful sentence “The only people who want Joba Chamberlain in the bullpen are the people who have very little knowledge of baseball.”
I fancy myself having a little knowledge of baseball. And I think that using 90 innings at his full potential is better than 200 innings of mediocre pitching.
It is clear as 1990s Pepsi that he should be the bullpen closer in waiting… like Steve Young waiting to take over for Joe Montana.
But alas, the Yankees are doing everything short of hiring Jeff Gillooly to destroy Joba’s career and put him back in the rotation.
He’s 24 now… and he could have a break out season… or he could be yanked back and forth again and the debate (and moronic Joba rules) could rage while he is 25… then 26…
He’s won a ring in New York and had a few big highlights in the Bronx. But if they are going to ruin his career, they might as well deal him to another team.
The Phillies could use a closer… Hell a good closer could clinch the NL Pennant for them!
The Angels, the Marlins, the Cubs or the Giants could all use an upgrade in the closer position.
The Brewers have the only pitcher in history with more saves than Mariano Rivera in Trevor Hoffman… Joba could be groomed to be the next Trevor.
And those teams might pay through the nose to get him. The Yankees could get the next corner outfielder, solid infielder or pitcher to groom in exchange for Joba.
Joba could get some peace of mind with a fresh start, a steady role and oh yeah… a media that doesn’t put the race for the #5 starter on the backpage of the newspaper!
And oh yeah, when Joba has developed into a tremendous closer and Mariano Rivera ultimately retires… the Yankees can just sign Joba as a free agent.
When Hunter Jones is pitching in the third inning for the Red Sox, it is time to turn the radio off and spend time with the family.
No need to watch the Yankees blow out the Red Sox.
Besides, in about a week and a half, the playoffs start. I had better store up as much good will as possible before parking my butt in front of the TV and get hooked on a Dodgers/Phillies game.
I remember when I saw the movie Amistad, I was frustrated that Steven Spielberg didn’t use his cast effectively.
Sully Baseball 
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