Joba's Weight Gain Highlights Fattest Off-Season in Yankee History

Yeah, I know CC Sabathia lost 25 pounds this off-season by cutting out Cap'n Crunch, that he ate daily, BY THE BOX (wanna know how unhealthy that shit is? on the FAQ page of their website, it asks why should kids and adults eat Cap'n Crunch, and their answer is that breakfast is important and cereal is easy for busy parents to make. When your reasoning is better suited for the McDonald's drive-thru window than your pure sugar dingleberries, your product isn't healthy).

They make no illusions about their unhealthiness-even the Cap'n himself is a fat fuck, and he's eating his own cereal.

Whatever weight Sabathia lost, apparently Joba Chamberlain found, and the concerns about his performance have gotten underway even earlier than they usually do because of it. I'm not sure what to do with Chamberlain anymore; I think the Yankees mishandled transitioning him from reliever to starter with their nonsensical innings cap that made his role fluctuate too often. The Yankee stance is that Chamberlain's stuff has been diminished following a 2008 shoulder injury in Texas, but I hadn't heard that excuse until today. What Chamberlain's upside is now is anyone's guess. At one time he had number 1 starter potential, with a chance for 4 plus pitches (fastball, curveball, slider, change) but his velocity is down from '07-'08 and it hasn't really rebounded. I'm afraid Joba is dangerously close to the designation of a player who could "use a change of scenery," a pity considering all the potential, and frankly his performance. Chamberlain mostly plays the role of goat in New York now, but he continues to post very good strikeout rates despite the lost velocity and his FIP outperformed his ERA by almost a run and a half last year. Chamberlain isn't a lost cause (yet) and I still think he has value either through performance or trade.

Contract Talk

The Brewers gave Rickie Weeks a 4-year, $38.5 million deal despite a career plagued by injuries and sometimes erratic performance. Weeks had a great 2010 and is only 29, so if he can reproduce those numbers for the duration of the deal, it'll probably be a good investment for the Brewers. The deal ends just after a player's peak years, so if you're going to pay Weeks big, now is the time to do it.

More contract new out of Blue Jays camp where sources are saying the team is close to giving Jose Bautista a 5-year, $65 million dollar extension following a season in which he hit more home runs than he had hit in his 3 previous seasons combined. Bautista is one of the more interesting players to watch this year, if only to see if his 2010 was the flash in the pan it looks like. Prior to 2010 Bautista never slugged more than .420 but exceeded that by nearly 200 points (.617!) last year. He still didn't hit for average, and probably never will, but he does get on-base. At 30 years old this contract doesn't look good, even if I assume he somehow maintains this power well into hid mid-30's, which he most likely will not do. Hell, I'll be surprised if he maintains this power going into this season. Jose Bautista's story is a nice one, but it smells a lot more like Brady Anderson than Sammy Sosa.

And finally on the contract front, the Albert Pujols deadline came and went without an agreement on a new deal, meaning Pujols will become a free agent after this season. I can't blame the Cardinals considering the numbers being thrown around (10-years, $300 million) but they can be blamed for giving Matt Holliday a bad contract that may restrict some of their financial flexibility here. If the Alex Rodriguez deal is the benchmark, it shouldn't be; it was a dumb deal when the Rangers gave him $252 million and dumber for the Yankees to go up to $275 million. But at the end of the day the Yankees can afford quarter billion dollar plus blunders, no other team can. If the Cards give Pujols that type of deal and he gets hurt, they'll be crippled financially for a decade. Stay tuned.