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Hughes is locked into the eighth-inning role as the Yankees work their way toward an American League East title. For a while, the Yankees appeared as if they would get away with the move. A.J. Burnett was getting lucky pitching well, Joba Chamberlain had found himself and Andy Pettitte was in vintage form. Now, the Yankees' rotation is not in such good shape, and some people are even calling for Gaudin, who is on his third team this season, to start in the playoffs.

Lest anyone think this is a second-guess, look back here, when Bronx Cheer said Hughes should be reinserted into the rotation. The Yankees are probably going to win the division despite themselves. They may not be feeling so smug if Chamberlain starts walking the ballpark in Game 4 of the American League Championship Series -- if they get that far.

Hughes will never be moved to the rotation this late in the season. That is only a pipe dream. But consider how things would have played out had the Yankees made the switch after Chien-Ming Wang went down in July.

Let's say Hughes, and not Sergio Mitre, took the fifth spot in the Yankees' rotation at that point. When Chamberlain hit his innings limit, he could have been moved to bullpen instead of making the two- and three-inning starts that he has been. The Yankees can't be killed for failing to predict that Chamberlain would fall off a cliff, but they would be much better off if Chamberlain had been pitching in relief for a month and set to dominate in the postseason.

Right now, the Yankees have one pitcher they can feel confident in: CC Sabathia. After that, the bats will need to show up. Andy Pettitte has had a good year and is a decent bet, but he hardly inspires confidence, especially considering his struggles at home this season. Burnett could turn in a dominant outing, but who wants to predict that? Chamberlain is a mess right now. Maybe the Yankees should have thought a little more about his rhythm and a little less about his innings count.

Of course, no one can guarantee that Hughes, who would have worked under an innings limit of his own, would be better than any of those three. He can't possibly be worse than Chamberlain is pitching right now. Hughes was uneven as a starter, but he never got a chance to settle into the role this year. Since he entered the bullpen, his stuff has been electric. He has a 59-to-13 stirkeout-to-walk ratio in 48 innings. He has allowed only two homers. In his time as a starter, Hughes' strikeout-to-walk rate was higher than Burnett's is now.

In general, Hughes appeared to be moving in the right direction. He was striking batters out and appeared a little spooked by the homer-friendly Yankee Stadium. Would his control have improved with more time in the rotation? Would his fastball have been sharp enough? We'll never know. But Hughes was never given a full shake as a starter this season. A 34 2/3-inning sample size isn't enough to draw any conclusions. Chamberlain, probably because of a higher innings limit, has been given a longer leash. That hasn't worked out so well.

Hughes is a cog in the bullpen, but he's hardly the only one. Besides, getting six or seven innings in a game is more important than getting two or three in an entire series. Alfredo Aceves and David Robertson have shown they are capable of pitching important innings. If Hughes had been in the rotation, Chamberlain would likely have been in the bullpen by now. Given his track record there, the Yankees could have expected a quality setup man. Instead, they'll never know.

Bronx Cheer has always been of the opinion that the best option is to try both Hughes and Chamberlain as starters until they prove they can't do it. If that happens -- and it very well could with both -- plenty of time will be left to nurture them as relievers. Hughes needed all of a week to take to the role this season. Chamberlain had never worked as a reliever prior to his 2007 metamorphosis.

The Yankees will likely win 100 games. But nothing is guaranteed in the postseason. They are more likely to bow out in the first round than they are to win the AL pennant. That's how postseason series work. If the Yankees suffer a premature demise, they may be able to blame bad luck. But, as Branch Rickey said, luck is the residue of design, and the Yankees' plans have been flawed for quite some time now.