Aaaaaand we’re back

Did you miss me while I was gone? No?!?!?!? Good, I didn’t miss you either and I HATE YOU!!! I’m sorry, I don’t know what I was thinking. I was just kidding. Let’s never fight again.

Anywho, it seems like the big story while I was gone was how Joba was removed from the eighth-inning role. Apparently he grunted and farted his way right out of the set-up man position but is in no danger of being sent to the minors. According to Joel Sherman, Joba won’t be sent down for two reasons A) the Yanks feel it would be a terrible message to send him from the eighth-inning role to Triple A, so they’ll try to fix him in lower leverage situations and B) the Yanks believe he is faltering not because of an attitude problem but rather it’s a case of his mechanics being off.

The problem I have with the former is that this isn’t Little League. Joba is a big boy (albeit only 24 years old) and should be able to handle a demotion. If he doesn’t want to be sent down then he should sac up and handle his business. Oh no, we don’t want to hurt his feelings; let’s keep him around. Fuck that. Treat him like a man and maybe he’ll pitch like one.

What I don’t like about the latter is that, I think, after this season Joba won’t be able to be sent down due to options or service time or something like that. I feel they should send him down now and get him straightened out. The last thing the Yanks need is a struggling Joba heading into the stretch run/postseason play.

Joba, who has yielded eight runs and 12 hits in six frames over his last five appearances, didn’t sniff the field on Monday night when the Yanks were up 3-2 in the eighth against the Injuns. Instead it was D-Rob and Boom Boom Boone that combined to toss a perfect eighth. I hope that sent a message to Joba.

Girardi:

"The first thing we felt we had to do was take him out of the eighth inning."

If Joba can’t figure shit out, what can the Yanks do? Over the past week or so they’ve inquired about relievers from a variety of teams. They called the Royals about Joakim Soria but were told he’s not available, they got on the horn with Toronto regarding Scott Downs but the Jays were asking for the sun and the moon, they wanted Matt Capps from the Nats but again his price was too high and they asked Pittsburgh about Octavio Dotel (yes, that Octavio Dotel) and Joel Hanrahan but, much like Downs and Capps, the Bucs wanted too much.

It appears the Yanks might handle this snafu internally and call up Ivan Nova or another Triple A starter to join the bullpen, or they could throw Hughes back into the ‘pen, where he was great last year, once he gets closer to his innings limit, or they could put their faith in Damaso Marte and hope he comes back from his shoulder problems (same could be said about Aceves). But only time will tell.

This might be much ado about nothing, because the bullpen should be the least of their worries. In my opinion, the team should focus on adding another bat off the bench or a possible fifth starter because they’re going to need someone once Hughes reaches his innings limit and if Pettitte is indeed out until early September.