From NPB:

Sanspo has gotten a hold of Yusei Kikuchi’s meeting schedule over the rest of the month, leading up to the draft. Here’s the breakdown:

Oct 16: meetings with Hanshin, Seibu, and Orix
Oct 17: Chunichi, Yakult, Nippon Ham, Chiba Lotte, Hiroshima, Rakuten and others
Oct 19: begin meeting with MLB clubs
Oct 20: Cleveland Indians, others
Oct 22: conclude meetings

Nikkan Sports lists the MLB clubs stopping by as the Giants, Mets, Dodgers, Yankees, Rangers, Mariners and Indians.

I’ve written about Kikuchi before, as he is an enticing left-handed arm that is in a rather difficult position (the Japanese amateur draft or Major League Baseball?). The Yankees are in on him, though the Rangers seem to be his biggest suitor. If you want to learn a bit more about Yusei Kikuchi, check out NPB’s scouting report. It’s riddled with interesting goodies. For instance, did you know that Kikuchi’s middle name is Igawa? Okay, just kidding…

Last week, I got on A.J. Burnett’s case for a momentary lapse in accountability.

This week, Joba Chamberlain is on the spot (and deservedly so).

Here’s what Joba had to say following yesterday’s game.

“My delivery was great,” he said. “I threw some great changeups. My slider velocity was great. My fastball velocity was more consistent. … It’s going to take a lot more than this to get my confidence level down, I’ll tell you that much. You can kick me as much as you want but I’m going to come back fighting every time. That’s how I live this live and that’s how I play this game of baseball.”

Chamberlain was asked whether he was concerned with how he has pitched lately.

“I’m fine, man,” he said. “I’m fine.”

In 23 August innings, Joba gave up 21 ER. Though the calendar has mercifully flipped, in 13 September innings, Joba has given up 12 ER. His continued ineffectiveness, coupled with the assertion that he is “fine, man,” truly bothers me. Owning up to one’s failures is essential in the game of baseball. Joba has failed to exhibit such maturity throughout the season.

It’s not “fine” when your team’s lineup is immediately asked to score 7 or more runs in order to win a contest. That’s not fair to them. A 3 inning outing also isn’t fair for Sergio Mitre—or, on other days, Alfredo Aceves—who was forced to throw 5 innings out of the blue. Saying, “I’m fine,” when you feature an ERA over 8.00 since the All-Star break, may no longer be enough for your weary teammates.

At what point does, “I’m fine,” become, “I’ll be better,” because, in the end, that’s what the Yankees undoubtedly need. They don’t need Joba to be “fine,” instead, they need him to be effective. They need him to offer some level of stability. With the postseason nearing, that’s all that really matters.

UPDATE - It has been brought to my attention by StandingO’Neil that Peter Abraham’s account of Joba’s post-game interview is missing a vital piece of humility, one that all but eliminates this post’s purpose. From an ESPN article, we see that Joba did, in fact, own up to his Seattle clunker.

“I let my teammates down. It was pretty much embarrassing what I did, not being able to pick my team up and get out of here with a series win,” Chamberlain said. “It will take more than this to get my confidence level down. You can kick me as much as you want but I will come back fighting every time.”

Abraham’s account of Joba’s interview, or one similar to it, has pretty much floated around the blogging circuit. Everyone is discussing his lack of accountability, including RAB, for example, and SIH. However, it looks like we were led astray by flawed reporting. The moral of the story is—beware of ellipses, for they do more than just shorten a quote.

Well, I guess it’s 5 starts after today’s game against Texas.

From George King III (NY Post):

Joba Chamberlain isn’t wild about the innings limit on his right arm and how it has led to long stretches of inactivity in the second half. But he admits his arm is in very good shape.

“I feel great,” said Chamberlain, who starts tomorrow night against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium. “I feel a lot better at the beginning of the year. It’s a win-win situation for everybody.”

Chamberlain last worked Aug. 16 at Seattle and will be going on eight days rest tomorrow. Chamberlain says he will get six more starts this year and if he averages the 5 2/3innings per start he has in 23 games so far that will get him to 160 2/3 innings for the season. That’s more than the 140-innings set in spring training but a total the Yankees wouldn’t be uncomfortable with.

If the Yankees truly cement their AL East lead as the regular season comes to a close, maybe Joba’s final few starts can be given to someone else so that the team can limit his innings total as much as possible, prior to the playoffs. Perhaps we’ll see Chad Gaudin or Anthony Claggett get a start in, instead. That would seem like a wise decision given that the Yankees face teams like Baltimore, Toronto, Seattle and Kansas City in September (they also face Tampa Bay and Boston). Joba’s cap is influenced by the way the team plays, though, down the stretch.

From George King (NY Post):

At Friday’s trade deadline, the Yankees added utilityman Jerry Hairston Jr. and nothing else. Not wanting to add payroll, the Yanks weren’t serious players for lefty Jarrod Washburn, who went from Seattle to Detroit.

So, what are the chances of making a deal now that a player has to clear waivers in order to be traded?

“Who knows — if it makes sense we will look at it,” GM Brian Cashman said. “There will be opportunity for people to do deals in the new deadline. What that means for us remains to be seen.”

If Hal Steinbrenner didn’t allow Cashman to take on significant money before July 31, it’s unlikely he will do so now. However, the Yankees are locked in a tight race with the Red Sox, and if Aceves isn’t right and Mitre continues to get spanked, they will be forced to make upgrades.

Multiple sources said yesterday that players will get through waivers this year more than in recent years due to teams not wanting to get stuck with a contract via the claim process.

King is basically saying that Hal Steinbrenner prohibited significant payroll additions at the trade deadline. He also says that, because of financial concerns, the Yankees were never serious players for Jarrod Washburn. That can be disputed, however, as Bryan Hoch notes that the Yankees didn’t make a serious play at Washburn because Seattle’s demands were too high. They reportedly wanted Austin Jackson, which wasn’t going to happen—not for a 2-month rental. Still, as Steve Lombardi points out, the Yankees could have bargained with the Mariners, right? Sure they wanted A-Jax—everyone asks for a team’s top prospects at the outset—but considering what they got for Washburn from the Tigers, it seems as though they would have lowered their demands if Cashman was truly persistent. What, then, is the truth? Did financial concerns limit Cashman or was it the Mariners and their unreasonable requests?

In the end, I believe that the Yankees didn’t want to take on Washburn’s contract which ultimately explains why he isn’t with the team today. Everything they’ve said about the M’s wanting A-Jax is simply disinformation to make it look like they actually tried to get Washburn. We heard numerous reports leading up to the trade deadline claiming that the Yankees wanted teams to pay the salaries of trade targets like Bronson Arroyo and Brian Bannister, which support this theory. Based on the information at hand, it really seems like the Yankees aren’t going to make anymore moves this year unless they are absolutely forced to—not because of unfair trade packages, but because of Hal Steinbrenner’s fiscal philosophy.

After losing their last three games and falling further below the Angels and the Rangers in the AL West (they’re now 7 1/2 games out), Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi (FOX Sports) note that the Mariners are heading into sell mode. According to an unnamed official from a contending team who spoke with KR and JPM, “They’re about ready to do some things.” All of this, of course, is speculation, however, Jarrod Washburn—who is scheduled to start tonight against Toronto—has long been a Yankee target. Last year, the Yankees tried to acquire him but balked at the Mariners’ asking price. This year, the rumors continue to swirl around the crafty veteran and he knows it.

Washburn, of course, was in play last year at the trade deadline as well, and nearly was dealt to both the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins.

“I guess my feelings are a little different,” he said. “Last year, I was hoping something would get done. This year I am just waiting to see. If it does, it does. If it doesn’t, I am happy either way.

“The first one [last year] had me going to the Yankees, and that didn’t work out. I was a little disappointed, but I was able to convince myself that I probably wouldn’t fit in that well in New York, anyway. That was OK. But when it was the Twins, that one stuck with me a little more. It would have been in my backyard and I was thinking how good that would have been.”

While Washburn clearly likes the Twins, he seems to enjoy the idea of pitching for the Yankees, as well. He’s a good fit for the team, too, as they could probably eat a significant amount of his salary in order to get him (he’s owed 10.35 million this season, though much of that has already been paid) and therefore, maybe they won’t have to part with any top talents from their farm system. I’ve written about Washburn before—he has been stellar this year, thanks to his defense in Seattle, a bit of luck, and a revamped two-seamer. Will his success translate to the Yankees for the rest of 2009? I’m not sure, but I like him better than Brandon, excuse me, Bronson Arroyo.