Hank Steinbrenner: "You Have to Be an Idiot...!"

However, a mediocre starter with stats mentioned above cannot get his wins if the bullpen and closer cannot hold the lead that the he left with. Given that most pitchers are not all-star caliber, I would say the need for a top tier bull pen and closer is even more urgent. However, the same rules can apply to an all star starting pitcher. He needs a solid bull pen and closer behind him.

Based on the sheer sample size of the two pools of pitchers, a quality closer is much harder to find.

In addition, if they do chose to move Joba to the rotation, this is something that should wait till either late in the season when/if the Yankees are out of the playoff race (which probably won't happen), or until next season. If they decide to move him mid season, that would mean Joba would be in AAA for about a month before becoming part of the rotation. A month without Joba in the bull pen, and not being a starter would be extremely detrimental to any playoff hopes the Yankees may have.

I was not born until the early 1980s so I was not here for the chaos that was George Steinbrenner of the late 1970s and Billy Martin drama that took place on a daily basis. I know that those late 70s brought Reggie Jackson and 2 World Series Championships. However, I also know that it was followed by a decade of bad baseball. I hope Hank of 2008 does not turn into what George was in 1978. However, I fear that the Yankees are on a similar path to that of 30 years ago.

My message to Hank: Hank, let Brian Cashman and Joe Girardi do their jobs! They can be the brains of the operation and you can just provide the deep pockets.

Let's keep Joba in the Bull Pen and hope that the Yankees have found the next Mariano Rivera.

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