Yankees may be considering switching to a six man rotation

The Yankees have one of the richest traditions in MLB, but they could be prepared to do something radical to catch the Boston Red Sox.

The days of the Yankees sitting back and using their massive checkbook to win World Series’ titles are over. These days, Brian Cashman has to think outside the box to outmaneuver the opposition. The Yankees GM may be poised to so something very unconventional to help give his team a boost.

Currently, the Yankees have five starting pitchers they can reasonably count on. His recent struggles aside, Luis Severino is still the ace of the staff. CC Sabathia and Masahiro Tanaka can both put in brilliant outings on the right day. Sonny Gray was awful during the first half, but his last three outings have quietly given the team reason for optimism. J.A. Happy just arrived, but his first outing in pinstripes was excellent.

The presence of those five starters hasn’t done anything to dampen the Yankees’ interest in acquiring Tampa Bay starter Chris Archer. Former MLB GM Jim Bowden goes so far as to call the Yankees the “front-runners” in the race to acquire the talented right-hander.

It’s possible Sonny Gray could be headed to Tampa in a potential deal, but there’s been zero reporting of the Rays being interested in his services. They want multiple Yankees prospects to complete the deal. In other words, acquiring Archer would leave Aaron Boone with six, MLB quality starting pitchers.

The easiest solution to this problem would be to move Gray to another team. Specifically, the Braves have been linked to him in the last 24 hours. It’s hard to see the Yankees getting real value for him given his struggles on the season though. Cashman isn’t a GM who deals from positions of weakness. As such, he could opt to hold on to Gray until he has time to rehabilitate his value over the second half. It’s very possible Gray can pitch well enough to get back in the Yankees long-term plans.

The other alternative is much more interesting, and very possibly a superior option. The Yankees could elect to go with a six-man rotation for the rest of the season. That’s certainly an unconventional idea, but it has a lot of potential benefits for the organization.

Obviously, it would help lower the workload on all of the starters in question. That should benefit everyone on the staff. In particular, veterans like Sabathia and Tanaka would really be helped by getting extra days to rest down the stretch. Tanaka’s numbers on extra rest are extraordinary. Giving Sabathia’s knee extra rest would greatly improve his chances of being healthy when October rolls around.

Having six quality starters also protects the Yankees from a serious injury to one of their top arms. If one pitcher is forced to miss significant time, Boone could easily shift the group back to a five man rotation without any real difficulty.

That also serves to protect Justus Sheffield from being inserted into a tense playoff race before he’s totally ready. The Yankees top prospect has been effective in AAA, but there are real concerns about his command at the moment. He’s not a certainty to be an immediate success if he’s called up.

In a perfect world, the Yankees would consolidate their talent into a trade for an ace at the deadline. That isn’t a realistic possibility this season. That’s why Cashman is wise to consider every other potential alternative. Switching to a six man rotation would be considered crazy by a lot of baseball purists, but it could be a stroke of genius that helps the Yankees overcome the Red Sox this season.