On Phil Hughes replacing Dustin Moseley

It's panic.

Running-down-the-street-and-screaming, boarding-up-your-doors, dialing-911 panic.

But even if the worst-case scenario comes to be, even if Phil Hughes allows 10 runs before recording an out and the Yankees lose tonight's game by 100 runs, I don't think it's going to carry great consequences.

That's because the Yankees have A.J. Burnett, CC Sabathia and Andy Pettitte ready to go the next three days in Toronto.

But what this shows is that the Yankees' principles will take them only so far.

I asked Joe Girardi what sort of message he thought he was sending to his players with this move.

“I think the message is that we’re trying to win games," Girardi said. "That we’re throwing a guy out there that’s 17-5 (actually 17-8), and we’re trying to win games, and we’re trying to win our division. I have never stated during the course of this that we’re not trying to win our division."

But, I followed, weren't you trying to win games and win the AL East even when you planned to start Dustin Moseley?

“Yes, I’m a little bit concerned with how it’s perceived in there," Girardi said. "Not necessarily anywhere else. But I think they know what we’re trying to do.”

How is it being perceived? The Yankees seemed just as calm as they did before yesterday's game. They have too many veterans who simply aren't going to get fazed by something like this.

They should be fine. But they probably would've been fine with their original plan, and now we'll see what their postseason rotation will look like. By originally scheduling Hughes for Wednesday, they had set it up so that he would've had exactly eight days before that start, and then before a potential ALDS Game 2 start.

That potential plan has been disrupted now. Doing a cost-benefit analysis, is trying to bury the Red Sox worth that sacrifice? It depends on tonight's result.