 Blessing In Disguise It was a bad game. It was hard to watch at times. It was deflating. It was all those things, and still, it was probably a productive loss, if there is such a thing.The Yanks lost their chance to sweep the Sox today with a 10-1 thumping, they lost a legitimate shot at winning the East, but they gained some perspective. This season can now become about two things, holding on to the Wild Card lead, and setting this team up for the post season. The Tigers are currently beating the Twins (and Johan Santana), if that score holds up, they'll be 2.5 games behind the Bombers. Definitely not an insurmountable lead, but the Yankees have a much easier schedule remaining. Barring a meltdown, the Bombers will win the Wild Card. This is the silver lining, folks. The Yankees can cruise, somewhat, to their playoff berth. Rather than managing every day as a must-win, Joe can get some of his ailing vets a few more days off, he can finagle his rotation so Wang and Pettitte are set to go in games 1 and 2 of the playoffs. He can figure out who's going to be reliable out of the pen. He can even give Mike Mussina a start or two, just to be sure he's got nothing left in the tank (which he doesn't). A race with the Sox would've been exciting, it would've been great, but in the long run, it would've made it harder to achieve the ultimate goal, winning the series. Had the Yanks passed the Sox, they still wouldn't have had home-field advantage in the first round of the playoffs (most likely). Now they can concentrate on being ready for that first round playoff series, with an eye on the scoreboard to see if they'll be heading to Cleveland or Anaheim. Josh Beckett out-pitched Chien-Ming Wang today, effectively winning the Cy Young. He deserves it, there's no doubt about that now. Player of The Game: Derek Jeter. His first-inning bomb was the only offense the Yanks could muster. If you need a pick-me-up, Yankee fans, take a look at the picture below. Can anyone out there honestly deny that Youkilis is the biggest pussy in the game? Again, he gets hit and acts like he's been shot. He gets helped off the field for a contusion. A contusion is a bruise, people. This guy is a drama queen. One last note, if a Yankee pitcher had blatantly retaliated like Beckett did today, he would've been tossed. There would have been no warning. There's something wrong with that. For the record, I have no problem with Beckett hitting Giambi, that's his job in that situation. I just have a problem with Yankee pitchers being held to a higher standard and ejected and suspended whenever they retaliate.  UPDATE: It looks like Buster Olney agrees with my assessment after Friday night's game, although I'm not sure that's a good thing. 
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Wang's not been good on the road (see: today's game, and others). It'd probably make more sense to start him in Game 3, but then of course who starts Game 2 is quite a dilemma. It'll be interesting to see which way they decide to go, but there's reason to be concerned, for sure, for opening ALDS on the road.
As for resting the regulars, that can only happen in blow-outs (which I'm hoping there'll be a few, in our favor of course). Other than that, it's still a very close race, too close for my comfort. Detroit's played well lately.
And as for MLB umpire pussies, it's just one huge anti-Yankees conspiracy. Those f$##ckers should go screw themselves.
I don't see the Yanks holding him back for game 3. They're going to want to use him twice in the series. I'd say games 1 and 4 (if they have the extra off day in their series). Games 1 and 5 if they don't.
The first priority is definitely getting in, obviously, but I don't think that's going to be such a struggle. Detroit has a rough schedule, including three at Cleveland. Unless they play like crap, the Yanks should clinch with about 3 or 4 games left to play. At that point, they can rest whoever needs it, set the rotation, and go into the playoffs fully loaded.
The Fox announcers last night were talking about Chamberlain and commented that it is the eventual goal of the Yankee organization to move him into a starting role. Are they planning to do so during spring training perhaps?
I think they're planning to do it for next season, yes. I think I'd rather see him take over for Mo when Mo retires. He's got the stuff and make up to be a dominant closer for the next decade plus.
The Yankee feeling is the he has 4 plus pitches, so it'd be a waste to have him in the pen where he only really uses two of them to dominate.
He's a different pitcher as a starter, his fastball lives in the 95-97 MPH neighborhood, and he reaches back once in a while to hit 99. As a reliever, he lets it go and lives between 98 and 100.
My only concern with him as a starter is his conditioning. He isn't exactly a small guy and his weight could become an issue down the road as a starter. Out of the pen, it probably won't be a concern.