Chris Sale the New What?

By now I'm sure you've heard that Chris Sale has been lifted from the rotation and dropped at the back of the bullpen to become the new Sox closer.

The reasoning, or at least what we we were told, is because Sale has experienced some tenderness in his elbow.

An injury.  Remember when Quentin got hurt, did we move him to shortstop afterwards?  How bout Derrick Rose, is he the new power forward?  Cutler to play DB?  No no no.  You do not change a guy's position to account for an injury.

Now we've all heard of guys getting old and no longer being able to play the field.  Instead of them hitting 4 times and playing the field, instead they just hit 4 times.  That makes sense.

But moving a starter to a closer?  100 pitches in 1 day, rest for 4, then do it again.  Or, 20-30 pitches 3 out of 5 games or so, and warm up every once in a while and not get in the game.

Sure you are saving about 20 or so pitches a week, but what about stress?  Every pitch a closer throws is a high stress pitch.  Think the guy with tenderness can handle that every other day? 

Chris Sale should be out for the rest of the year.  He should be shut down, and should be spending the next 10 months strengthening his arm.  This guy has top notch quality stuff.  He could be an ace.  And now we are going to stick him at the back end of the bullpen and hope he has the right mentality to get the job done. 

Oh yeah, and all of this was done without consulting Chris, and against his will.  Nice.  Good way to treat the best prospect you have for your future.