The Joba Rules............are you kidding me?

I just have to vent about the stupidity of the Joba Rules and how, now, they have taken on a new definition. Supposedly, after the Yankee cracker jack team of investigators realized that giving him sporadic starts with different days of rest wasn't working out too well (they might have been tipped off by his 9 ERA in those outings) the braintrust that has done everything to stunt and stymie this young man's growth came up with another set of "rules" to go by. Now, Joba will be treated, for the foreseeable future, as really a starter in name only. Essentially, he is going to "start" games but not really look to finish them in any way. Will he go three innings? Will he go five innings? No one knows except for, well, Joba and the coaching staff.
Am I the only one that thinks this whole thing is utterly ludicrous?
I understand the premise behind these actions and, in a way, I agree with it. I do believe that stretching relatively young kids out well beyond what they have been accustomed to is dangerous and we have seen that starters who have jumped up, especially into the 200 inning mark after coming no where close the season prior have had arm issues and performance problems.
But when is enough enough?
Joba is currently at about 130 innings pitched. The Yankees decided that they want him to pitch somewhere around 160 or so innings this season. Let's say that Joba has 6 starts left (it might only be 5 but we'll say 6 to be safe) and let's make a HUGE assumption and say he were to average 7 innings in those 6 starts. That would mean he would pitch an extra 42 innings this regular season, not counting the playoffs, where it would be impossible to predict what kind of innings he would receive (would he be moved to the pen, in which case he would only be asked to pitch one inning at a time, or would he be kept in the rotation as a fourth starter, in which case he might not be needed at all in certain series?).
We know that Joba wouldn't average 7 innings, so let's say he averaged 6, which would be an added 36 innings, which would put him right in line for the "innings limit" they have set up.
Are you telling me that, if Joba went 172 innings as opposed to 165 innings, his arm would fall off? Are these guys robots? Is there no pitcher in human history who has seen their innings go over 170 and live to tell about it? Really?
Just let the freakin kid pitch.
He isn't good enough to threaten this dreaded innings limit anyway. Plus, what no one has talked about is that Joba's inning limit, to me, is a joke anyway because the concern isn't the innings but the pitches. Joba's 40 pitch innings, I am sure, put far more stress on his arm than a 8 inning, 90 pitch game ever would. How many of those games has he had already this year?
And all of this ignores the fact that Joba has not, in any way, proven that he should remain a starter for his career. In the best of circumstances, he hasn't shown the ability to conserve innings, pitches, and go deep into games. He hasn't shown that he can be the pitcher the Yankees want him to be.
Now, I still believe he has that type of talent, but he has to be allowed to show it before any of us can say, categorically, that he is the next great thing in the rotation.
And how unfair has all of this been to Joba?
I get as frustrated with Joba as anyone, mostly because I still firmly believe he can be a great pitcher, but when you consider how much they have juggled this kid and played with his head, it is really a miracle he has done as well as he has. Think about it: Joba, who has been starter all of his young career, was brought up and turned into an eighth-inning reliever in 2007; in 2008, as if still trying to figure out what to do with the young man, they started him in the bullpen then "transitioned" him, in season, to the rotation, doing something similar to what they are doing now in limiting his innings and trying to "build him up"; because of that strange decision to transition Joba in the majors rather than the minors, he hurt his arm, was placed on the DL, and when he returned he was placed, again, in the pen; start of the 2009 season he was announced as a starter, but he was essentially only allowed to go 100 pitches (if that) per game and, after a very onconsistent first half, he came back in the beginning of the second half and pitched lights out, only to have the Yankees decide to begin their "Joba Conservation" plan in between starts, which has now morphed into the new Joba Rules.
Pitchers are creatures of habit and Chamberlain's entire season has seemed more like a laboratory experiment rather than a season focused on winning baseball games. It hasn't been fair to him and it hasn't been fair to the team. I said this about Phil Hughes and I'll say it about Joba Chamberlain: the Yankees do not exist to ensure that they develop as seamlessly as possible. Chamberlain and all the young players exist to try and help this team win.
Keeping an eye on their health and trying to do what is best for them in the future is fine, but the Yankees seem to be overdoing it a bit, don't you think? Instead of treating these kids as professionals, they seem to be treating them as youngsters on a little league soccer team. Maybe Joba's arm is stronger than what the yankees are assuming, or maybe he is like Francisco Liriano, who never came close to exceeding some innings limit because his arm exploded well before it. Maybe Joba is CC Sabathia or maybe he is Mark Prior. The point is, numbers on a page don't tell you that, only time and experience does.
All I know is I am as sick of the Joba Rules as I am of the "Joba to the pen" arguement. Maybe, one day, they'll treat the kid like a professional. If they don't plan to do that, send him down to the minors because people at MLB should be there to help the team win, not learn.

A tally of right and wrong calls here in the dog days..........

I have tried posting a couple of times over the last month but, for some reason, blogspot hasn't been very receptive to my desire to opine about all things Yankees, so I'll try it one more time.
Really, things have settled down in Yankee land. In fact, it is the first time in several years where it feels like the dynasty days where, as a fan, you expect the team to win every time they take the field.
So, with the Bombers rolling and the dog days officially here, I thought it would be a good time to take stock of some of the "predictions" I have made throughout the year and see how I'm doing. There is still plenty of time for me to be right or wrong, but August seems to be a perfect time to really see where I stand.

What I was right about:

Oh, the list is so long..............:)
First, the thing I am most proud of is my early championing of Phil Hughes to the pen. While such beat guys like Sweeney Murti and Peter Abraham poo-pooed the idea from the get go, and resident blowhard Mik Francesa emphatically professed that Hughes "won't be good in the pen at all," Franchise has taken to relief work like Lindsay Lohan to a Vegas cathouse. The eighth inning and the "bridge" to Mariano has never been more secur, and Hughes is the biggest reason why. Only required to throw two pitches, Hughes' fastball has added life and his curve is devastating. And there is a swagger about him on the mound that has not been there before. He looks almost annoyed when someone gets a hit or he gives up a walk.
Second, I was right about the pen in general. WHile everyone was suggesting that the pen would NEVER be the equal of other teams' relievers, I predicted the Yankees were not that far away from having a very capable group. Did I know they would be this good? No way. But I saw the talent in Phil Coke, Alfredo Aceves, Brian Bruney, and even David Robertson, all of whom have become valuable commodities in a pen that is about as shut down as you're going to get. Bully for me.
Third, while I can't give myself that much credit for this, I'll take a bow none the less. While the likes of Joel Sherman (another moron making comments with little knowledge to back it up) were suggesting that Derek Jeter was simply a "singles hitter" now and others were typing in their calculations to prove that Jeter was the worst fielder since Todd Hundley ventured out to left field, I quietly predicted that Jeter would have a return-to-form season, which would be a prelude to next season (contract year), which promises to be even better. Right now, Jeter is at .320, 15, 53, 20 stolen bases, and a near .400 OBP. He's on pace for 20 homers, 75+ RBI, 30+ stolen bases, 200 hits, 100 runs, and his best defensive season in the last five. And, yes, I saw it coming.
Fourth, I believe it was me who saw Damon's contract year coming. Of course, a lot of other people did as well, so I'll just add my name to the list. But, remember, it is a list of people who were right about something.
Fifth, I was right that the Yankees were the best team in the East and that the Rays would be the odd ballclub out.