Are the Yankees afraid to let Joba Chamberlain start in this series?
He’s clearly shown that, for now, for whatever reason, he’s absolutely suited to come out of the bullpen. In the last game of the regular season, he came out of the bullpen and suddenly he was the old Joba – the fire-breathing Joba. He was attacking the strike zone with fastballs. I think at this point they’re, “Well, okay, that’s what works for him, and this is how we’re going to go.” If the weather messes with their plans for CC Sabathia in Game 4, Chad Gaudin will go in Game 4, and Joba’s just going to stay in the bullpen. The Yankees appear to have gone from a high-priced collection of talent to being a good team. The guys they brought in deserve some credit for beginning to change the culture: AJ Burnett and CC Sabathia and Nick Swisher. For years, there was a cold war going on between Derek [Jeter] and Alex [Rodriguez]. It’s probably too strong of a way to put it, but there was a lot of tension there. I would give credit to both sides to make an effort to change. Alex certainly c
