Joba Chamberlain Undraftable As Set Up Man
Posted by: Knox Bardeen in Relief Pitchers, Set Up MenThank you for visiting Crooked Pitch! While you're here you'll find tons of valuable fantasy baseball information to help you win your fantasy baseball league. If you're new here, or haven't done so yet, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!
There’s been lots and lots of talk about the role Joba Chamberlain would take for the Yankees in 2008. On the hunch that Chamberlain would move into the starting rotation, his stock rose. In fact, his Average Draft Position is 147.55 (12th round) with an earliest picked position of 97 (8th round). These high draft position numbers could change as the New York Post is reporting that Chamberlain will start the season as the New York Yankee set-up man.
The Yankees plan on leaving Chamberlain in the pen to start the season to keep his 2008 innings pitched at a manageable level. Then they can ease him into the starting rotation.
For those of you who drafted Joba in the middle rounds thinking he would be a starter… Sorry. His fantasy value drops dramatically with this news. No relief pitcher, without a closer’s job, is worth that high of a draft pick. And unless your league uses the holds category, Chamberlain is best left undrafted. Why?
Chamberlain is going to spend an undetermined amount of time at the beginning of the year as the 8th inning guy. Then the Yankees are going to ease him into a starters role. Expect some growing pains there. Once the relief role and the growing pains end, you’re most likely looking at the All-Star break. As good as Chamberlain might be (read: it’s still not a certainty he’ll overachieve as a starter), drafting him just for the 2nd half of the season isn’t the best draft strategy. Sign him once he hits the rotation, but not before.
Thanks to Mock Draft Central for the Average Draft Position figures!
- Update 2-12-2008 at 5:24 PM: The LoHud Yankees Blog stated that Brian Cashman wasn’t certain, yet, what Joba Chamberlain’s role will be for the ‘08 Yankees pitching staff.
- Update 2-13-2008 at 10:49 AM: Joba Chamberlain could also be sent to the minors to prepare for his changing role to the rotation. This time in the minors could last 3-4 weeks.
Entries (RSS)
February 12th, 2008 at 8:50 pm
I wouldn’t say he’s entirely undraftable, but I mostly agree with you. If it’s a late round and you’ve got a lot of pitching depth, he might be a risk worth taking. Otherwise, no. Here’s more on my view: http://blog.benchcoach.com/2008/02/12/joba-roles/
February 12th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
As undraftable as Francisco Liriano was in ‘06.
February 12th, 2008 at 10:55 pm
I agree. Liriano really broke out in ‘06. But, Liriano is really an exception here. For every Liriano, I’ll show you 25 relievers who fail miserably in starting roles.
My point isn’t so much that Chamberlain is useless or that non-closer relievers are too. I just think that if he’s not going to have too much value until mid-season, couldn’t you find better players to spend your draft picks on?
February 13th, 2008 at 1:33 pm
Depends where he’s going. Last couple of rounds? I think you should take him if he’s there. Filling out a staff with a quality middle reliever is good practice. Soriano, Betancourt, Howry, Zumaya, Shields, Heilman — not all last year — but in the last three years, at some point these guys have all given very strong value for last couple of round selections.
As further news breaks, if Joba’s in the minors, not so good.
February 17th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I’m in a league that uses holds… He’ll have huge value for me.