http://www.prosportsdaily.com/comments/jorge-posada-joba-should-stay-in-bullpen-and-pudge-rodriguez-has-to-go-09-15-2008.html

September 15
New York Daily News


"In a taping of "CenterStage" for YES on Monday, Jorge Posada laid out some strong expectations for himself and the Yankees for next season.

But his most blunt and interesting answer came in a word-association segment near the end of the show, when interviewer Michael Kay asked the injured catcher about pitcher Joba Chamberlain.

"Leave him in the bullpen," Posada replied flatly, before being asked to expand on his answer. "If you start him and he pitches 200 innings, he won't be able to (last).

"You're going to lose him. He's going to get hurt . . . I don't see him as a starter. I'd leave him in the bullpen.

Chamberlain opened this season in the Yankees' bullpen in an effort to limit his innings total, before he was shifted to the starting rotation in early June. He made 12 starts but was placed on the disabled list on Aug. 5 with shoulder tendinitis, before returning to his bullpen role on Sept. 2.

"I said in the spring, seeing him as a reliever, I think his body is made to be a reliever," Posada said. "This year tells you a sign, a little sign. A little tendinitis tells you a lot . . . I don't see it."

Posada, who underwent season-ending shoulder surgery in July to repair his labrum and a frayed rotator cuff, also believes he will be ready to resume baseball activity by February. He fully expects to be the Yankees' Opening Day catcher in 2009.

Jason Giambi isn't likely to return, but Johnny Damon and Hideki Matsui already have volunteered for consideration in the first base/DH mix next season. The Yanks also could pursue a marquee free agent such as Mark Teixeira, unless Posada's shoulder forces him to be shifted to first base in the second season of the four-year, $52.4 million deal he signed last winter.

"I think everybody wants to play first base, that's what I hear," Posada said jokingly after the taping. "I want to catch . . . I will do anything possible. I don't want to play first base. I want to be a catcher."

i happen to think he may be right... i was worried about Joba making the transition to being a starter from the beginning... i think he did a good job but his body broke down when exposed to the lengthy starts... i think he'd be better used as a setup stopper in the 7th & 8th to Mo, & we should go all out to get CC & another veteran starter like Jon Garland in the offseason to pair w/Moose, Wang & Andy.

Andy back as the #5? Only if we have to. The team really needs to get 3 starters. We have Moose and Wang and nothing.

I think Andy's gone downhill quickly, though. If he's 13-13 this year, I could see it being something like 11-15 next year. And that's if he doesn't retire.

Moose's turn around is extremely improbable. Yes, you can predict that aging players will decline. It would be more accurate to say that you can't predict the results with 100% accuracy, but you still can (and should) predict them with better than chance accuracy. I'm not saying Pettitte's the wrong choice at #5; just that I'd prefer to first see what other options there are.

Regarding Joba: Do you want him to permanently be a reliever? or to be a reliever for all of next year? I'd like to see him become an ace starter and I think that if they need to keep his innings down, then it makes sense to have him start the year in the bullpen and then move to the starting rotation.

[Edited by - bonn1997 on 09-16-2008 01:40 AM]

But why do you think he's not built to be a starter? because of one injury that lasted a few weeks?

Fair enough

sorry i meant this year