Trading Joba

Word came out this morning from sort of decent sources that the Yankees are aggressively marketing Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain for trades.   Of course, if we knew how horribly they'd be mishandled years ago, we could have gotten a hell of a lot more than we'll get now, but that's what it is.  

As we wrote yesterday, the Yanks suck as sellers, and would be best served playing the arb game with Hughes.    Joba is unlikely to merit a pick because of all of his lost time and nebulous role.    But he should bring back something.   And one of the things he must bring back is traded in International Pool money.   Several teams have already been able to expand their abilities in his year's market with trades. So why not the Yanks?  I have no faith in their ability to find a useful future Yankee in any Joba player trade, but I do believe they're more likely to fine a future Yankee in the IFA market.   So jump back in, Yanks.  

We wish  Joba well, and do hope he goes to a team where he'll be stretched out and allowed to compete for a starting job next year.  We were  against using him as a bullpen patch back in the day, and our worst fears were born out.  But Joba's still in his 20's and has the kind of bulldog build that could be durable, so Happy Trails and Oh, What Could Have Been.