Francona or higher management might be considering this right now. But there are some issues they probably would want to address in their own minds and with the players involved before would make such a move.

First of all, let's wait until Clay proves he's OK and Colon has a few more starts under his belt to show that he is really on track before we do this. I.e., I'd think about starting this a few weeks from now rather than tomorrow, if I were going to do it.

Second, I wonder if this extra extra day (the 6th off day every 5 starts for the non-Beckett starters) matters as little as one thinks. I truly don't know the answer to this -- I'm sure the pitchers themselves have opinions, but one probably couldn't tell until you do it. Add to that the possible extra juggling required to deal with the occasional (we hope) very short start, and the possibility for chaos does exist.

Third, I'm not so sure it wouldn't be just as well, if this were done, to go to a straight 6-man rotation for awhile. Don't push Beckett up. I say this because Beckett, to this point in the season (and we are now approaching the 1/3 point), is not quite the same pitcher he was in 2007. I wonder if he is feeling the after-effects of the long season just past, and if the extra day would benefit him as well as everyone else in the longer term. If it is in fact true that the Sox are going to coast to the playoffs under any circumstances, why push Beckett any harder than necessary?

Fourth, what happens if someone gets injured (likely to happen to someone sooner or later, as it has already)? Do you then go back to a 5-man rotation, after getting everyone re-acclamated to a new work schedule? Or do you bring someone up from the minors to fill in the rotation? If the latter, are we comfortable with doing that? We might well be if the option is Masterson, but part of the work in bringing someone up is finding someone whose schedule meshes with the day you need someone.

Fifth, going to a six-man rotation reduces chances for contribution to the team of each individual starter -- and it costs them chances at wins/strikeouts/etc. -- the things that look good at awards time, contract time, etc. Yes, the team comes first, but let's not kid ourselves. These guys have egos, and want to look as good as possible and make as much money as possible (except for Wake of course, but he has the self-interest of trying to get to 200 wins and you are diminishing the chances for a guy who most likely IS in the twilight of his career). I'm not saying the morale hit would be major, but it's something to be dealt with.

Sixth, there is bullpen management. I'd hope that in exchange for an extra day off, the starters could get an extra out or two per game on average, to help offset the wear and tear on a shortened pen. This is a VERY important issue, given that the quality of the pen once again looks as if it could be a real problem. Of course, if the pen is a problem, lopping off the 7th guy might not be so much of an issue results wise -- unless/until extra use burns out some of the rest of them.

I'm not saying that this is a bad idea. But if you are going to make a significant move like this, you need to have your ducks in a row, because if something fouls up the works and you start rejuggling things again you risk throwing the machine out of kilter. And I have this nagging suspicion that starter health is such that the experiment would end in its early stages because of health issues within the rotation.