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I personally think that when it is all said and done that Sants has the likely outcome for the start of the season pegged.

However this is the kind of stuff that Theo and his staff live for. They will run lot's of computer models on this. They will try to determine the probabilities of increased effectiveness from the other 5 pitchers versus the five lost starts by the ace (Beckett).

There are benefits to the proposal, just like there were in going from 4 starters to five a couple of decades ago. If each guy could work 1 more inning per start effectively that has a profound impact on the bullpen. That equates to 162 innings less work for a bullpen. Even if it worked out to less than 2/3 of an inning, 80 innings less bullpen work is significant.

Also if the net result of the changes was to make every other starter better, that could at least pick-up the 5 lost starts from Beckett before factoring in that Dice-K handed 16% of his starts to the bullpen and Schilling 29%. If they are handing it to a shorter more rested bullpen the conversion rate to wins could increase.

Then there is the whole investment protection angle if you are reducing the total innings per starter by 25-35 innings per year. Over a 5 year period (which covers Lester, Buchholz and Matsuzaka's years under RS control) this reduces the innings pitched by 175 to 210 innings and that is a season.

None of that may be compelling enough to make this change and would have to be weighed against the fact that 6 quality pitchers are hard to assemble in the first place let alone maintain over the course of time.

But it is fun stuff to ponder and crunch numbers on for FO people who believe they are cutting edge.