Byrd to start Game 4? Lowe to Yankees?

Buster Olney had a chat up today with two interesting tidbits…

Heard this informed speculation this morning — Beckett, Lester, Matsuzaka, Byrd in Games 1-7. It’s hard to start Wakefield against the Rays because they run so well.

This is a pretty interesting argument, and it makes a lot of sense. It does make me wonder, however, the feasibility of retaining Wakefield as a reliever. Francona alluded to this talking about Game 3 of the ALDS:

We put Cash in for Tek, then we went to Ross when we hit for Cash, so we would have gone to Byrd first. If Wake pitches, we’d like it to be Cashy catching, and he was already out of the game. So Byrd would have been the first starter coming out of the pen.

Onto Lowe…

I think the Yankees are going to throw a boatload of money at Lowe, and he will wind up in pinstripes. He is absolutely, 100 percent perfect for them, and they will go the extra mile financially to make it happen. … I think they’ll try to sign CC (while being prepared for the possibility that he’ll play elsewhere), and really go after Lowe with all money guns blazing.

Please, Derek, don’t sign with the Yankees!