In that respect, Gibbons is not alone. You have to believe there isn't a manager in the American League who isn't privately delighted to see the Yankees embarking on this journey, especially since, for the foreseeable future, it will mean a limited number of innings from him at the start of the game and no innings from him at the end, where he had been one of the most lethal set-up relievers in the business.
Madden continues ...
You heard Hank Steinbrenner: Joba's going to be the Yankees' Josh Beckett. And maybe he will be. But no one should count on that being the case any time soon.
Right now, Chamberlain is no better than any of the other retreads the Yankees might send out there to give them five innings. Kei Igawa could have turned it over to the bullpen in the third inning Tuesday night. Next time out, Chamberlain should get 75 pitches, which might even get him to the fourth inning. The Yankees can only hope he will have shown himself capable of being a top-of-the-rotation starter by the All-Star break. Who knows how many games like Tuesday night's will have been sacrificed to get there?
And even if all that comes to pass, he will still be on an innings limitation.
Meanwhile, until further notice, Joba's the one given in the rotation that is going to require a deep bullpen. This would maybe be all right if that bullpen included him.