Rainout Saves Yanks From Igawa

This afternoon's game against the Detroit Tigers was cancelled due to rain. This might save the Yankees from having to start Kei Igawa.

The plan for right now is to have Andy Pettitte start Monday, Chien-Ming Wang Tuesday, and Mike Mussina on Wednesday.

The Yankees are considering if left-hander Kei Igawa -- who allowed six earned runs in three-plus innings to the Tigers on Friday -- will make the start on
Thursday, pushing right-hander Darrell Rasner to Friday against the Mets. Their other option is to skip Igawa and continue with Rasner against the Rays as
originally planned...

The Yankees may also mull bringing right-hander Ian Kennedy back up to the big leagues or consider another Minor League hurler. Kennedy's Triple-A Scranton/ Wilkes-Barre Yankees were rained out on Sunday in Indianapolis, and the rookie is to start in the first game of a doubleheader on Monday.

So basically, here's the situation. They have games on the 12th-18th, and then 20th through 28th. The order should Pettitte, Wang, and then Mussina on Wednesday the 14th. This is what I think they should do following that:. Completely skip and demote Igawa for a reliever (Traber or Patterson), have Rasner pitch on Thursday, followed by Steven White or Dan Giese on Friday against the Mets (and send down the extra reliever). Then have the rotation go as normal by having Pettitte on Saturday and Wang on Sunday. They have the luxury of an off day on Monday, so have Mussina on Tuesday, Rasner on Wednesday, and then, if they think Ian Kennedy is ready, bring him back into the rotation starting that Thursday, if not, keep Giese or White for a little while longer.

Note: The Yankees placed Wilson Betemit on the DL because of his hamstring and recalled IF Alberto Gonzalez from AAA.

EDIT: Making room for Giese on the 40 man roster wouldn't be a problem as they can 60 day DL Francisco Cervelli or Jeff Karstens.