Kevin Slowey for Joba Chamberlain…do you do it?
I kind of floated this idea yesterday and I wanted to give it more attention today. I hadn’t really thought the Twins needed to look out of the organization for a bullpen arm, but the more I read and think about it, maybe they do. Yesterday the idea of the Twins needing a Jesse Crain-type arm was brought to my attention. Like I said, I hadn’t really thought of it like that. I figured the Twins would be able to piece together a bullpen and make it work. I was also not really keen on the idea of trading a starter like Kevin Slowey for some random arm out of the bullpen. But then I got to thinking about how the Yankees could use a starter and how their bullpen is pretty crowded with the addition of Rafael Soriano. And the name Joba Chamberlain came to mind. Now, it sounds like he had an MRI today and it showed he has a strained oblique. That is where I get concerned. Joba has had trouble staying healthy lately and I wonder if he will be the same player he was back in 2008. Last year in 77 and 2/3 innings he posted a 4.40 ERA while striking out 9.2 per game. He wasn’t great but if he could recapture some of his old success he would be a huge addition to the weakest part of this Twins team.
I think the way the Yankees handled Joba might have screwed him up. He was awesome in 2008 out of the bullpen. But then in 2009, the Yankees came up with the ridiculous “Joba Rules.” He started 31 games that season only throwing 157 innings. He had an arm injury in there, too, which I am sure contributed to his drop in velocity. In 2009, as a starter his fastball averaged 92 mph, but in 2010 as a reliever he was averaging close to 95 mph on his fastball. That is exactly what the Twins need for their bullpen, a power arm that can get strikeouts at pivotal moments in a game.
Right now the other bullpen candidates are not exactly power arms, even Matt Capps really isn’t a power pitcher. If you could put Joba in front of Capps and Joe Nathan and then sprinkle in Jose Mijares, this could be an extremely formidable group to end games with.
Basically, I don’t want to see the Twins trade Kevin Slowey for anything less than a legit 7th or 8th inning guy. Someone who can strike guys out when needed and be a force. Now, I know power arms are not easy to obtain, and usually they come at a high price, but Joba has kind of fallen out of favor in New York and I have to think Slowey is a much better starter than, say, Freddy Garcia.
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The arm injury happened in 2008 when he first turned back into a starter. He was perfectly fine until that point in his career. Don’t blame inning limits when an injury occured before an inning limit was forced.
you are kidding me right. do you think the yankees are that stupid kevin slowey for joba chamberlian?
You’re crazy man Joba for Slowey there noway they make that trade unless it includes The Cisco Kid Francisco Liriano there not giving up on a guy thats 25 and has closer stuff or could still be a good number three starter
Well the addition of Francisco Liriano is pretty much an entire different animal. I was just thinking aloud here about two guys who seem like they could use a change of scenery, to an extent. I also think the Joba as a starter thing is probably over. I even read a quote from Brian Cashman suggesting that I do believe. It also seems the Yankees ‘pen is pretty deep and the rotation is a little slim, like I said, Slowey is clearly an upgrade over Freddy Garcia if it were to come to that.
Really no way that the Yankees would give up Joba at this time. There is every indication that Joba is returning somewhat to form and could again end up as the Yankees setup pitcher. Soriano doesn’t seem to be working out and I suspect the Yankees would love to somehow ship him out to anybody willing to take on his contract…forget getting anything else back for him. I don’t think they would insist on getting a player in return, that’s how unpopular the acquisition has become, IMO.