Hank Steinbrenner: You don’t put Joba Chamberlain into the setup spot, “You have to be an idiot to do that.”

Brian Cashman: Joba Chamberlain is our setup guy for now.

Welcome to the wonderful world of the Yankees front office.

First of all, there is a hint of truth to what Hank is saying. Joba should be a starter, and a good starter is more valuable than a good setup man. The point is that Joba isn’t ready to be a starter right now.

Chamberlain is probably on a 150 inning limit this season, to help him transition into a starting role without wearing him out prematurely and risking injury.

A few people like what they see in Joba and picture him as the next great Yankee closer, and he could fill that role, but the important thing is that the Yanks will get a lot more mileage out of him as the next great Yankee starter. There are plenty of guys who don’t have what it takes to be a starter that will be stepping up to fill in Rivera’s role in the next year or two.

The problem with Steinbrenner’s comments is that he is undermining his manager and general manager, essentially calling them idiots. I think it’s pretty safe to say either of them know a fair bit more about baseball than Steinbrenner, and Hank running his mouth off does a lot to prove that.

Times like this make it hard to be a fan of the Bombers. Sigh.