This morning's New York Post reports that discussions are under way to change the Joba Rules to allow Yankees manager Joe Torre the flexibility to use Joba Chamberlain more frequently. Previously, Torre was constrained from using Joba on back-to-back days if he pitched one inning and had to rest him for the same number of days as innings that Joba pitched.
These rules were obviously put into place to prevent the manager from doing what he has done over and over again with his bullpen arms - run them into the ground through abusive use. As Baseball Prospectus' Will Carroll put it - Quantrilling them. Given the moral hazard inherent in a lame duck manager in the fight for a play-off spot, changing the Joba Rules is essentially allowing Torre a month of abuse.
With the naive hope that I am wrong, going into next year one needs to wonder what Joba Chamberlain will be worth in fantasy drafts? The player who may be the most comparable in projected statistics and conjecture would be Phillies lefty Cole Hamels. With high strikeout expectations along with dominating stuff, I can't shake the comp. If true, then Chamberlain is going to be a $20/6th-9th round pick.
Too high?