Will a Six Man Rotation Effect The Yankees Free Agency?

I myself wrote just last week about the possibility of a six man rotation for the rest of the season in the Bronx and Joel Sherman reiterated my thoughts later in the day. What Sherman did that I didn't was he looked at the Yankees wanting to attempt the six man rotation in 2015 as well, something that pitching coach Larry Rothschild is behind and agrees with. Then this weekend my friend Bryan Van Dusen took the same approach as Sherman but looked deeper into the numbers and came to the conclusion that it made even more sense for the Yankees, and not necessarily other teams, to go ahead with the idea next season. My initial response was "great" but my initial question is how will this affect our approach heading into free agency?

It is no question that the Yankees will at least be interested in the likes on Jon Lester, Max Scherzer, and James Shields to replace Hiroki Kuroda and to improve the team but will a six man rotation keep them out of the discussion for these key free agents? The problem is your guess is as good as mine, this is truly uncharted territory for us all. Will getting five days rest and messing with a pitchers schedule keep free agent starting pitchers from wanting to come to New York?

While some pitchers have actually benefited from the extra rest others will tell you that they feel a little bit of rust while pitching with five days of rest. Another question is if it would even matter this season? Would the Yankees be willing to take on a third contract worth $20 million a season or more joining Masahiro Tanaka and CC Sabathia?

New York will presumably have CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova, Shane Greene, Masahiro Tanaka, and Michael Pineda already in the fold for next season before you consider the possibilities of David Phelps being in the rotation or Brandon McCarthy returning to the club. I honestly don't think a six man rotation effects the Yankees free agency plan because I don't believe the team has room for one or two of the big three. Not that the Yankees couldn't or shouldn't make room for a Jon Lester or equivalent in the rotation but I don't believe they will have to unfortunately.