As the Yanks head home tonight looking to bounce back from yesterday's Ponson implosion, a key adjustment has been made to the rotation. The Moose will pitch tonight, on normal rest, instead of sticking with the rotation as is and giving Moose the extra day. The Yanks are in the midst of a stretch of 20 games in 20 days. By pushing Rasner back a day, they now have a buffer between Rasner and Ponson, should they both remain in the rotation. This is key for two reasons: first of all, the odds of the Yanks dropping back-to-back games with those two starters are very, very high. Second, when Rasner and Ponson pitch, you're basically guaranteeing a busy day for the pen. Moose should be able to give the pen a bit of a rest sandwiched in between the two.

The irony of that last sentence isn't lost on me. Here's a quote from a post I wrote on August 27th, 2007: "Mussina is done. There's no other way to look at it." No one has been more surprised by the rebirth of Mike Mussina's career than I, and I owe him a giant apology.

I'll be in attendance tonight, so expect a late night wrap from me. Keep an eye out for broken bats if you're watching.

On the trade front, it appears as though Washburn's great game yesterday, coupled with Ponson's buffoonery has made the Mariners a little more steadfast in their request for a legitimate player in return for the salary dump (hat tip to MLBTR for the links.). At this point, I'd almost rather see what Ian Kennedy can do and wait for Hughes and Wang to come back to round out the rotation.