Chamberlain not a lock to make Yankees 2011 roster
TAMPA — Brian Cashman envisions Joba Chamberlain in the Yankees’ 2011 bullpen, but the general manager won’t guarantee the right-hander a spot when pitchers and catchers open spring training tomorrow at George M. Steinbrenner Field after reporting today.
“Anybody who has [minor league] options is not a lock for anything,” Cashman said when asked by The Post if the 25-year-old was a roster-spot lock. “Any player with options has to re-earn everything. You earn more or you earn less — New York or Scranton [Triple-A]. I fully expect Joba to be in our bullpen. If not, he would have worked his way out of it.”
Four years ago, it was expected Chamberlain would have been pushing closer Mariano Rivera out the door by now. Or at least that he would have claimed the eighth-inning spot.
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Chamberlain entered the Yankees’ universe in 2007 with a triple-digit fastball and a filthy slider that was clocked at 96 mph and made good big league hitters look ill.
Today, what’s left for Chamberlain amounts to crumbs. Rafael Soriano got three years and $35 million to set up Rivera. David Robertson has developed into a dependable and versatile righty reliever. Boone Logan and Pedro Feliciano are manager Joe Girardi’s lefties in the bullpen.
Chamberlain? His options are: middle relief, Triple-A or a trade.
After putting a gym in his house, Chamberlain appeared bigger last week at the minor league complex, but didn’t reveal how much he weighed. The Yankees listed him at 230 pounds in their postseason guide.
Just like the starter-or-reliever debate that once surrounded Chamberlain, there are multiple theories about what happened.
A popular theory says the Yankees messed up Chamberlain in 2008 by converting him to a starter in an odd way: by limiting his starts to less than five innings. A shoulder injury he suffered as a starter in August of that year has robbed Chamberlain of velocity on his fastball, bite on his slider and command. That argument has teeth.
Since walking off the mound in Arlington, Texas, on Aug. 4 that year with a barking right shoulder, Chamberlain has been average in several ways.
In 2401⁄3 innings since then, he has allowed 249 hits and posted a 4.53 ERA. His strikeout-to-walk ration of 224-101 is solid and 224 Ks in 2401⁄3 innings is good.
A year ago during spring training, he was part of the competition for a starting spot that was won by Phil Hughes. Girardi didn’t immediately anoint Chamberlain as Rivera’s set-up man. Eventually, Girardi inserted Chamberlain in that role, but late in the season Kerry Wood — now gone to the Cubs — took away that spot.
Now, Chamberlain, who has three minor league options left, will be fighting for a spot in the pen.
“We won’t decide, he will decide his role,” Cashman said. “Players always dictate [by their performances].”
Then there is the possibility the Yankees could trade Chamberlain, who agreed to a one-year, $1.4 million contract to avoid going to arbitration this past offseason. It was the first time he was eligible.
“He still has value,” an AL talent evaluator said. “Teams would want him if he is available. It will be interesting to see how the Yankees pitch him in spring-training games and who from other teams is there only to see him.”
The safe bet is that Chamberlain will be in the Yankees’ pen, but it would be foolish to go all in.
Beyond how he pitches, Chamberlain’s role will be impacted by where Ivan Nova and Sergio Mitre land. If they aren’t in the rotation, they could be in the pen. Mark Prior, signed to a minor league deal in December, is a long shot. And Andrew Brackman, Adam Warren, Hector Noesi, Manuel Banuelos and Dellin Betances won’t likely be ready for the big leagues by late March as starters or relievers.
george.king@nypost.com
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