It's a Doggone Shame How the Yankees Keep Joba Chamberlain on Such a Short Leash

We all knew this was going to happen at some point. 

After Joba Chamberlain creeped six innings closer to his mysterious innings limit Tuesday night, ESPN and MLB.com are reporting that newly acquired Chad Gaudin will replace Chamberlain in the rotation for at least his next start on Sunday.

"Asked if Chamberlain will take his regular turn in the rotation Sunday in Seattle, Girardi would not answer. Asked if Chad Gaudin would start Sunday instead, he rolled his head from one side to the other before finally nodding," wrote Anthony DiComo of MLB.com.

That means this weekend in Seattle, the Yankees will start Sergio Mitre (1-1, 7.04 ERA) and Gaudin (4-10, 5.13 ERA with San Diego this year).

Awesome.

I don't see an asterisk next to New York's name in the standings yet, so I don't quite know why the organization has chosen to temporarily remove its third best starter from the rotation in mid-August.

Oh, wait, I remember; Joba's arm will fall off if he throws 180 innings this year rather than just 160.

So, with the Red Sox only five back in the loss column in the AL East and the Angels just one behind on the loss side for the all important home field advantage in the playoffs (New York is 40-18 at home, 30-25 on the road), the Yankees have decided to roll the dice this weekend.

By the way, Gaudin is 3-3 with a 4.59 ERA in his career against Seattle, Mitre has never faced them, and Chamberlain is 1-0 with a 3.60.

I think this is way too early to be throwing games away, especially when Joba is 8-2 with a 3.85 ERA, undefeated in his last nine starts and 8-0 with a 2.06 in his career after the All-Star break.

Follow me on Twitter at JordanHarrison.

Jordan Schwartz is Bleacher Report's New York Yankees Community Leader. His book "Memoirs of the Unaccomplished Man" is available at amazon.com, barnesandnoble.com, and authorhouse.com.

Jordan can be reached at [e-mail]