New York Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain has been one of the most overrated prospects over the past couple of years.
He all made us say "wow" when he came out of nowhere in the 2007 season, pitching the year with a ridiculous ERA of 0.38.
Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman didn't know what to do with him except to keep his innings limit.
In 2008, Joba pitched 100.1 innings with an impressive ERA of 2.60. It seemed like Chamberlain is heading for a great career as a starter, until he failed at that the next season.
In 2009, Joba was a starter throughout the entire season, and we know how that turned to be: a 4.75 ERA season with 76 walks allowed in only 157.1 innings.
After that year, Yankees fans thought that Chamberlain should just be a dominant reliever like he was and help out of the weak bullpen. He also did not win the starting job out of spring training, and it seemed like a relief. At least then Joba would be useful. We, Yankees fans, were wrong.
Even pitching out of the bullpen, he has an ERA of 4.73 with four losses. Adding to that, there's also something that the stats don't show, and it's that Joba gives up the big hits. That includes giving up hits with runners in scoring position after taking over another pitcher that had left.
But even with all this, he still has plenty of value to be part of a trade for a superstar player. The Yankees almost acquired Dan Haren at the trade deadline, but stubborn Brian Cashman held onto Chamberlain, who was wanted by the Arizona Diamondbacks, and the deal was never completed.
At home games, when fans in the bleachers see Joba in the bullpen warming up, they automatically say something like, "we lost."
The point is that Chamberlain should be out of New York by the start of spring training in 2011.
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