THE YANKEES OPTION FOR MONTGOMERY IS ALL ABOUT STRATEGY!

I'm not worried about the Jordan Montgomery move at all....and neither should you. It's not a shocking move, actually. This is nothing but a strategy move, and it says nothing about how the Yankees feel about Montgomery. Monty is absolutely part of the Yankees plans THIS season. This isn't a demotion, it's just smart strategy.

There's no reason to panic here, and I won't even call this a demotion because it is not. It's just a strategy and MLB.com explained it best, "The move to option Montgomery stemmed from the club's decision not to use a fifth starter during the first turn through the rotation. It is expected that Montgomery will be recalled prior to the Yanks' sixth game of the season, the July 29 home opener against the Phillies at Yankee Stadium."

Simply put, the Yankees don't need him right away. Due to the off day on Friday they won't need Monty until game 6 (as MLB.com mentioned). The Yankees have an off day tomorrow, so there is no real need for a fifth starter until a second time through the rotation. We have expanded rosters for the first few weeks, there is no point clogging it with a starter that isn't going to pitch right away. It makes sense to carry the extra bullpen arm right now.

Aaron Boone has hinted at doing a bullpen game and starting with Mike King, or someone else. It's not a surprise, we saw it work well last season with Chad Green and because of that the Yankees have confidence in this strategy. King also pitched well against the Mets this weekend. Boone has had success with it, so there's no reason to believe it can't be done again, especially after a good summer camp. It's also not a bad idea to have an extra reliever at the beginning of the season.

The Yankees also want to play it safe with Monty. He's coming back from Tommy John and missed a lot of time. There's no reason to push him too much when the Yankees have additional arms that they can use for the first couple weeks. Monty will be close by in Scranton, and will likely get additional tune-up work and maybe even a simulated game and if MLB.com is right about starting in Philly, we won't miss him for long.

The Yankees can take their time with Monty, he has options and they can send him to their alternate site for a short time and if it is just for a short time it won't even affect his service time. It's a win-win for both the Yankees and a player coming back from injury. They can't take this same approach with say J.A. Happ. The Yankees were always going to use him because they can't send him down. Looking at the starting rotation, if the Yankees were going to make this temporary adjustment then Monty is the right choice.

The Yankees know what they are doing. This isn't about Monty not earning his spot on the team. He has and he knows it. Monty is the Yankees fifth starter, just not for opening week and that's not a big problem. This isn't a demotion at all, so we shouldn't call it one. The Yankees have an expanded roster, numbers say he fits but not for week one when the Yankees don't need an extra starter. We will see Monty soon....in fact, I will even bet money on it!

--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor

Twitter: @nyprincessj