This season turned because Hughes stabilized the pen and dominated the season.

I know Yankee fans tend to overlook the importance of a great pen because of Mo but as the playoffs showed its vitally important in winning.

His fastball was pedestrian. His slider wasnt thrown for strikes.

His curve and change were rarely used.

Is that the “overshare” part??

And we’ve all seen 38yr old CF’s retain their skills and continue being elite fielders right???

Camerons the definition of a guy who cant hit good pitching.

Didnt Melky and Gardner show enough promise to warrant another go or did helping a title team not show enough for u?

If Halladay really wants out, I wonder if he’ll agree to a 4 year extension at a CC-level AAS. I’d gladly lose one of Joba or Hughes for four years of Halladay.

1. Resign Andy Pettitte, Johnny Damon, and Hideki Matsui.

All three of them want to come back, all three of them can be productive in 2009, and all three of them are going to be as good as anybody else we can bring in for their jobs. Damon on a two year deal with a vesting option for a third year based on performance, Pettitte on a one year deal with a player option for a second year, Matsui on a one year deal with a vesting option for a second year based on performance. Vesting options based on performance are great because it’s like a guaranteed year assuming the players are worthwhile, and if they’re worthwhile, why wouldn’t we want them back?

2. Sign or Trade for a very good relief pitcher.

Mike Gonzalez, Rafael Soriano, Francisco Cordero, Bobby Jenks, Jose Valverde, Billy Wagner, Brett Meyers, JJ Putz, Takashi Saito, take your pick. Personally, I think Robertson will end up doing the job and doing it well. But I don’t feel like betting our repeat campaign on one bullpen arm.

3. Sign reliable, innings eatting, ground-ball starting pitcher.

I’m talking about a Joel Peneiro, a Jon Garland, a Ben Sheets, a Justin Duchscherer, a Javier Vazquez, a Gil Meche, or a Jake Westbrook. Somebody we can slot into the rotation with Sabathia-Burnett-Pettitte-Hughes and take the ball every fifth day in a home run happy Yankee Stadium. This guy doesn’t need to be good, just good enough. A sub-5.00 ERA and a nice GB-FB ratio.

4. Demote Joba Chamberlain to AAA Scranton.

Let him pitch every fifth day until about June, then call him up assuming he pitched well. This will let him regain his confidence and get the steady, consistent work he’s needed since 2007. We have to remember that he sky-rocketed through the minors in his first year. The minor leagues is just as much about getting work in and learning how to pitch professionally as it is about getting guys out, it’s about learning how to make a career not how to make a game or a season.

Fixing the first problem is simple: Sign a reliable eighth inning reliever like Mike Gonzalez.

As far as the confidence problem goes, I’m not really sure what we can do other than send him to AAA to face weaker competition and get his head back together. When he was coming out of the bullpen during the playoffs, we saw that Joba Chamberlain that made us believe in him as a starter. He was attacking the strike-zone and pitching like a champ. When he was in the rotation during the regular season, he nibbled and nibbled and just kept falling behind to batters.

This raised his pitch count because he was always pitching from behind, and it made him throw over the plate way too often. MLB hitters don’t need two chances to get a hit, and Joba was giving them at least two fat pitches to hit an at-bat. I want Joba to be a front of the rotation pitcher, but he just isn’t showing it to me right now. I vote we send him to AAA to learn how to pitch more effectively and efficiently as a starting pitcher. Look at CC Sabathia, he gets the strikeouts, but he also pitches to contact when he needs to and that’s why he is a horse. With their repertoires, I really think that they could be similar type pitchers down the road.

Joba’s problem is in his approach and his mentality, and it’s a toss up if he’s going to fix that.

I understand your point—if nothing has changed, why rehash it? But I think at a certain point you need to cede that these subjects are discussed often because they’re of great importance, particularly during this point in the year when there isn’t a whole lot of new things going on. Maybe it’s filler, but what alternative do you propose? I’m sure Ben, Mike and Joe would be happy to consider other things. They’re reasonable people, Stuckey.

I didn’t mean to be rude when I lobbied for you to create your own blog. If so, I apologize. It just seems that if you have other ideas that are not being considered or are tired of the same subjects, you can write something about it somewhere else. As the writers/editors, it’s up to them to decide their editorial content. If it’s not sufficient, fill the niche.

Mike Cameron to the Yanks is a “made up” free agency signing.

What exactly is the threshold for something that is purely speculative to crossover from “inane” to relevant?