Joba Chamberlain

The New York Post's Joel Sherman , among others, is reporting that Joe Girardi has officially named Phil Hughes as the Yankees' fifth starter. This has been heavily debated over the course of spring training, but I'm still not sure what the Yankees plan was here.

The regular season is just a few weeks away and the Yankees roster is beginning to take shape. A few of the position battles are starting to clear up as players are released and sent to the minors.

The Yankees lost to the Phillies today as Phil Hughes gave up a game-ending home run in the bottom of the ninth. The home run was one of three given up by Hughes today. Despite the long balls, Hughes pitched very well, as he made batters swing and miss using his changeup.

Entering Monday, many pundits believed Phil Hughes had all but locked up the fifth starter's role in the Yankees rotation, but by 4 p.m., everything grew a bit hazy again.

Coming off a solid three inning, three strikeout, one run performance against the Phillies on Wednesday, Joba Chamberlain, Hughes' main competitor, again pitched well in an intrasquad game. He allowed two runs on six hits and struck out one over five innings, reportedly displaying a good changeup and improved velocity.

The spring training statistics of the five guys battling for the fifth spot in the rotation (in order of least to most likely to win the job):

Chad Gaudin

0-2 (W-L), 7.71 ERA, 3 GP, 2 GS, 7.0 IP, 9 Hits, 6 R, 6 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 4 K

Career as Starter: 21-28 (W-L), 4.72 ERA

Going into spring training, the Yankees were trying to figure out who their fifth starter was going to be.

The two favorites going in were Phil Hughes and Joba Chamberlain, with Chad Gaudin, Sergio Mitre and Alfredo Aceves as the longshots.

It's already the middle of March, halfway through the 2010 spring training season, and I am making a case now as to who the fifth starter should and needs to be starting now and going into the future.

Hughes needs to be made the fifth starter and Joba to be put back into the bullpen for good. It's where he really belongs.

As the season draws closer the Yankees have a big decision coming up as to who they are going to pick to be their fifth starter this year. Despite my belief that it would be a waste to go with anyone other than Joba Chamberlain , there is a very real chance that he could get passed over especially considering he hasn’t really pitched all that well this spring.

The 2010 season is almost upon us. Baseball season is getting much closer to being back.

We're about two weeks away to Easter Sunday on April 4, when Opening Night will kickoff the season on ESPN, and what a game to open up with between the defending World Series Champions New York Yankees and rival Boston Red Sox.

But there will be 29 other teams trying to do what the Yankees did this past November, which is win the World Series. Eight teams only get a chance every year to qualify to win, so who will be the teams this season to step up and challenge the Yankees?

The primary line of thought is that the Yankees' pitcher that loses the fifth starter battle will be used as the primary eighth inning pitcher.

This is likely to be the case, but is that the right decision? Could Joba Chamberlain or Phil Hughes use more development against Triple-A hitters?

With Hughes, I think the answer is an obvious no. He has a ton of minor league experience and has already dominated the Triple-A level. I don't think Hughes has anything to learn in the minors.

The biggest question regarding the 2010 Yankees right now is undoubtedly who should win the fifth starter job. I have largely stayed away from the topic, since I'm sure you all are sick of hearing the same things over and over again.

So, instead of debating who should win the fifth starter job, I'd like to take a look at what the Yankees need from their fifth starter. You see, fifth starters tend to be pretty fungible. Usually, the difference between a fifth starter and the sixth guy waiting at Triple-A isn't too vast.

The biggest news out of the New York Yankees spring training camp so far this spring has been the battle for the fifth spot in the club's rotation.

Among the five men battling for the spot, three stand out to me as potential starters for the Yankees come April. Those men would be Joba Chamberlain, Phil Hughes and Alfredo Aceves.

After the first few weeks only one has stood out as a potential fifth starter and that is Alfredo Aceves.