ANAHEIM, Calif. - On merit alone, Adam Warren should be the last Yankee removed from the rotation.
But far more than that went into the Yankees' decision, not the least of which is that Warren, the club's best starter for the last five weeks, at some point would have been taken out of the rotation anyway.
The 27-year-old righthander, 5-5 with a 3.59 ERA, already has thrown a career-high 82 2/3 big-league innings, surpassing the 782/3 he threw last season when he was a top reliever.
"There's a concern if he keeps going, you worry about injury and having to shut him down and not having him at all," Joe Girardi said before Tuesday night's game.