I just wanted to put this out here because it’s rather frightening:

1. CC Sabathia
2. AJ Burnett
3. Andy Pettitte
4. Javier Vazquez
5. Phil Hughes
6. Sergio Mitre o_O
7. Your guess is as good as mine but mostly people you really don’t want to think about.

If Mitre is in the pen as the long-man, that puts him at #6. Chad Gaudin was unconditionally released for what seem to be financial reasons. Joba Chamberlain and Alfredo Aceves will then be in mostly one-inning roles that means they can’t just jump out and start when AJ Burnett finally has that injury we were waiting for all last year.

In perfect world land, I’d have the depth chart look something like this:

1. CC Sabathia
2. AJ Burnett
3. Andy Pettitte
4. Javier Vazquez
5. Phil Hughes
6. Joba Chamberlain
7. Sergio Mitre
8. Alfredo Aceves

Aceves is sort of a dream here, and he’d be limited in his first time out but when you reach 8th on the depth chart that is extreme emergency territory.

The important difference is Joba Chamberlain at #6. He really should be sixth on the depth chart because there’s no way you can get me drunk enough to believe that Mitre is a better option. Plus, in the future we want Joba to live up to as much of his potential in the starting rotation as possible. To be blunt: He should spend as much of his last option year in AAA as needed to continue working on the two pitches he often neglects (change and curveball) and be available to the team in the event of an injury to one of the old overworked guys in the rotation.

I don’t think that Joba should be slotted into the 8th inning role for a couple of reasons. Firstly, because I think it’s important for them to not take a step backwards in his plan after last year and secondly because I’m not sure if he’s actually a better choice than the David Robertson/Damaso Marte tandem at this point in time.

I also believe that it’s time for the team to bring Mark Melancon up to the Bronx and let him pitch his way into or out of a Major League job for real. Like Robertson he has the stuff you need to be an above average relief pitcher in MLB and just needs to be given an opportunity to go out and do it already.

I’m sure this is all a dream though, and when I wake up Joba Chamberlain will be in the MLB bullpen. After all, Joe Giardi has already announced that Joba’s next appearance will be Saturday for one inning which offers some insight that makes me a lot sad.

Ultimately this is all about the Yankees and their need to win, now and always to uphold their brand and sell tickets at outrageous prices. Hopefully they have some better alternatives planned out to try and develop all of their young arms for MLB that we, the general public, do not know about.