Tigers sign Joba Chamberlain
According to Ken Rosenthal:
Ken Rosenthal @Ken_Rosenthal 17m
Source: Chamberlain with #Tigers is one year, $2.5M, as @Buster_ESPN reported.
Discuss.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^
And by "the team" I mean "the Toledo Mud Hens"
December 12th, 2013 at 4:05 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 4:36 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 6:51 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 7:56 PM ^
Joba was communicating with his family and Rivera "shushed" him in front of fans and media. Joba then tells Rivera not to shush him, to which Rivera laughs off, leading to Joba reiterating his request to not be shushed. To draw from this exchange that Joba is "A terrible human being" seems unfair.
December 13th, 2013 at 12:34 AM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 7:17 AM ^
December 13th, 2013 at 1:07 AM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 9:38 PM ^
Yeah, I never understood the hype. He was a hard-throwing reliever; those players are not that hard to come by, especially ones who can't stay healthy.
I knew the base was falling out when they tried to move him to the rotation, but he does have some endurance for long relief. If he sees any time on the roster, I'd have to expect it would be in that capacity.
December 12th, 2013 at 6:36 PM ^
Can this off-season get any worse?
Joba blows. $2.5M on him isn't a flyer. The minimum is a flyer. We could have exercised the option on Veras for not much more.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:18 PM ^
1 year, 2.5 mil?
CHEAP, no risk, and if he can be a quality bullpen arm, then its all profit.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:22 PM ^
Relievers are weird. Guys who seem to be mediocre one season can turn out to be studs the next (case and point Jason Grilli), and guys who are great can become mediocre very quickly (Valverde anyone?). I like this. We could get a great player (he has the potential), he could play for the mudhens all year. But its not a long term commitment, so we won't be kicking ourselves for this down the road.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:26 PM ^
they're volatile from year to year. Greatness can be very brief and it can diseappear quickly. This is why Mo Riveria's greatness is amazing because he has been consistently great every year.
IMO, it's a solid signing. Low risk, big upside signing. If he sucks, he'll be gone after the season is over or TIgers can cut him without much of a penalty.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:33 PM ^
Exactly. I do wish we would have kept Veras though (and hopefully we don't get rid of benoit either. If we keep him around we might have a pretty solid bullpen. Otherwise, it could be questionable (especially if Joba doesn't work out).
December 12th, 2013 at 2:58 PM ^
to play one more year. He wasn't that bad coming off the pen, but my guess is DD feels that his inconsistency (plus giving up a run against BoSox at Game 3) is a reason why he never came back to the Tigers. I would feel better if Tigers have Veras, Joba, Bruce and Nathan at bullpen with Al-Al and Coke be a purely situational reliever. Only question would be who would be the middle relief pitcher.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:27 PM ^
i think a lot of the volatility comes from the small sample size they generate from pitching only an inning or so a game. if JV goes out an throws a bad pitch for a homer in the first inning he gets 6-7 more innings to pitch and get his rhythm. a bullpen guy goes out and makes the same mistake probably gets yanked and may or may not have lost the game for his team. its just such a high pressure spot its understandable that they would be volitale
December 12th, 2013 at 2:25 PM ^
1. Sign Joba Chamberlain.
2. ???
3. PROFIT!!!
December 12th, 2013 at 2:20 PM ^
Dude was awful at Yankee Stadium last year, but pitched well on the road. For $2.5M, definitely worth a shot.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:24 PM ^
Comerica Park and every other park besies Yankee Stadium is still "on the road" we should be good to go then.
December 12th, 2013 at 6:10 PM ^
3.54 ERA away from Yankee Stadium. He's got some good stuff, and at $2.5 million I say why not give him a shot.
December 13th, 2013 at 7:25 AM ^
Not very good for a reliever, and his WHIP is awful.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:28 PM ^
My one issue is that they seem to be relying on Phil Coke and Joba to pitch quite a few worthwhile innings which seems like a stretch. So one more arm would be ideal in my opinion.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:32 PM ^
He has been real good at the 2nd half of the season. As long as he keeps the BB rate down, he should be dynamite out of the pen with a plus plus fastball.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:38 PM ^
Al-Al either walks in runs, or strikes out the side, no idea on Krol, Casey Crosby looks like a 3rd lefty but what's there after another injury, and Luke Putkonen is a flyball machine. I mean honestly there isn't much upside in that bullpen aside from real young arms like Knebel, and Melvin Mercedes.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:42 PM ^
pitches less than 1 innings because he can be dynamite with pitches that misses swings. Anything longer than 1 inning, he, for some reason, just don't pitch well. He has the stuff to be a dynamite arm, but the consistency was never there.
Phil Coke should be a purely situational pitcher who only pitches against lefties. He was pretty good against them.
IMO, as long as Ausmus can use the bullpen correctly, it shouldn't be a big issue.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:06 PM ^
but not sure how healthy he'll stay if he has to pitch more than once every other day.
Joba's salary, by today's standards, is about 20% below MLB average, so worth a shot.
Hopefully, Ausmus does a better job handling a bullpen than Jim L did vs. Boston in Game 2.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:36 PM ^
Yeah, the vibe I'm getting from this deal is "eh, could end being OK for us, but I don't really care because we didn't spend a lot of money on him."
That's how I feel at least. He's got some potential, but could also be a total flameout. But I'm OK with the gamble since we didn't spend too much on him.
So, as of right now, the Detroit bullpen looks like this:
- Bryan's Real Village
- Alberto Alfonso Alonzo Albuquerque
- That guy we got from Washington
- Luis Marte?
- Kyle Lobster?
- Phil Pepsi
- Joba the Hut
- Bruce Rondon (assuming he's healthy, which it sounds like he is).
- Joe Nathan
Am I forgetting anyone?
December 12th, 2013 at 2:40 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 4:04 PM ^
Oh, I totally missed that part about Villareal. Thought he was still in Detroit. For some reason I thought we only gave up Avisail in that trade.
I also just saw a post at BYB that mentioned Putkonen, Evan Reed, Jose Ortega, Melvin Mercedes (?), Justin Miller (?), and Jose Valdez as being on the 40-man roster. There's also been talks about Casey Crosby moving to the 'pen. Not holding my breath for him though.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:03 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^
And Rajon Rondon.
December 12th, 2013 at 5:06 PM ^
He was a basket case
December 12th, 2013 at 11:46 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 2:37 PM ^
Sweet! I found someone else to dislike other than Phil Coke.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:50 PM ^
But will his 40 time from the bullpen to the mound be as fast as Coke's?
December 12th, 2013 at 4:12 PM ^
but his pad level is outstandingly low.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:44 PM ^
Just make sure that nobody tries to "shush" him.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:47 PM ^
Moving him to the Starting Rotation really seemed to mess him up. Maybe a change of scenerary and a new pitching coach can get him back to being what he was. It's a smart sign by Dave. If it works out, awesome. If not, who cares.
December 12th, 2013 at 2:51 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 2:55 PM ^
I've never really been a fan of him, but I've also never been a fan of most Yankees. Good pick up for the $$$
December 12th, 2013 at 11:56 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 3:01 PM ^
As a Yankee fan, let me give you my perspective here: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA.
Now a real analysis: I loved Joba for a while but his slider has lost its bite, his fastball has lost about 5 mph, and the guy is an all around ass (see: telling Mariano Rivera to be quiet). The Yankees actually destroyed him. Moving him in and out of the rotation messed with his arm and led to Tommy John surgery and he hasn't been the same since. Maybe the Tigers can help him find some life in his arm, but based on what I've seen over the last few years he may be too far gone.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:16 PM ^
#OldSchool
December 12th, 2013 at 3:20 PM ^
best of luck with that.
signed,
yankee fans.
dude's fastball is just too straight. it's not the kind of thing that's easily fixed. when he was throwing 98 for 2 innings it didn't matter. but at 94, hitters are able to square him up.
December 12th, 2013 at 3:40 PM ^
everytime i see Phil Coke come into a game.
The only thing he does well is spit 7,000 times per inning.
December 12th, 2013 at 5:30 PM ^
And point to every flyball/pop up/foul ball imaginable... even if it's a 350 foot double.
December 12th, 2013 at 6:26 PM ^
December 12th, 2013 at 3:59 PM ^
Waste. Sometimes players come back from TJ surgery with more velocity. It hasn't happened with Joba yet. His mechanics before the surgey led the Yanks to install the "Joba Rules" when he was a reliever (pre TJS) - essentially prohibiting him from consecutive days and giving him an extra day of rest for each IP.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:09 PM ^
I'm ok with a shotgun approach to releivers as long a few of them actually work out.
December 12th, 2013 at 4:11 PM ^
Makes me depressed. Don't they both have like the highest Whip's in the league? And BTW, how the hell is Coke still in the major leagues?