Forget the mystical powers of the immortal Garrett Olson for a moment. Yesterday's loss fell on the bullpen, which let things get out of hand in a hurry at Camden Yards.
Moving Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation is the right move, I sincerely believe that. But it's important to remember who will be there to take his place in close games. Based on yesterday's results, it's not pretty.
The hope here is that Brian Cashman recognizes the enormity of this deficiency and acts aggressively. Kyle Farnsworth has been solid of late, but that doesn't mean he should be considered the eighth-inning solution. It's a role he failed at in 2006, 2007 and basically every other season of his career. Kyle Farnsworth is not effective. Let me type that again in case Cashman is doing Google research on the big right-hander. KYLE FARNSWORTH IS NOT EFFECTIVE. EL KYLE FARNSWORTH ES NO EFFECTIVO.
Neither is Jose Veras (stiff), LaTroy Hawkins (cadaver) or Ross Ohlendorf (zombie), for that matter. The reality of the situation is that removing Joba from the equation makes a good bullpen bad. Such is the enormous talent that is Chamberlain. But starting pitching is considered more important than the bullpen, and the Yankees just so happened to have a need in both departments due to the failures of Phil Hughes and Ian Kennedy. You're essentially robbing Peter to pay Paul here, a strategy in baseball and life that commonly delivers poor results. Stay tuned to see how all this plays out, though I strongly urge you to have indigestion medication nearby until the July 31st trade deadline.
Now if the Yankees had Johan Santana in front of Chien-Ming Wang, Andy Pettitte and Mike Mussina ... ahhh, no sense crying over spilt milk.
Even if the milk is everywhere.
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