Davidoff: Expect Burnett to start Game 4 of ALCS

I'm not a TV executive, so I'll just hand over this brainstormed commercial to the TBS folks as they prepare to promote the American League Championship Series:

Open in a darkened room, the only sound coming from the static on a background television. Pan the camera slowly to the right, a kitchen. The oven is on. Pan up to a cookbook, open to a page that reads "banana cream pie."

Cue the slow "click, click, click" of baseball cleats on a tile floor. Pull out to a lanky man in a Yankees home uniform, an apron with the interlocking "NY" draped over the belt.

Cut to a close-up of the face of A.J. Burnett, who smiles and states with an eerie calm:

"I'm baaaaaack!"

Yeah, as the Yankees delight in watching the Rays and Rangers exhaust each other, there seems no way for them to avoid a return of Burnett, their $82.5-million enigma, to their starting rotation for the ALCS.

Expect Burnett to start Game 4. And expect the Yankees to win the ALCS anyway, regardless of the opponent.

Now you want to know, "Why Burnett? And how can the Yankees still reach the Fall Classic?"

You came to the right place.

Why Burnett?

Because the Yankees can't ride three starters to the title, as they did last year. Baseball rightly eliminated the day off between Games 4 and 5 of the Championship Series, and that changes the math.

Last year, CC Sabathia made two starts on three days' rest, and Burnett and Andy Pettitte one each. This year, a similar run would require two starts on short rest each from Sabathia, Pettitte and Phil Hughes.

You can't push your top three starting pitchers that much, especially when Sabathia and Hughes are such vital pieces looking forward.

So they need a fourth starter, and who else besides Burnett?

Not Javier Vazquez, whose fastball was last seen traveling in the right lane of the Long Island Expressway last week. Not Ivan Nova, who never quite displayed a consistent ability to go through a major-league lineup more than once.

It's easy to forget now, but Burnett made seven regular-season starts in September and October. Two (Sept. 11 at Texas and Sept. 22 vs. Tampa Bay, oddly enough) were shortened by rain, so let's throw those out in the interest of positive spin. One, Sept. 27 at Toronto, was positively dreadful (21/3 innings, seven runs). The other four (Sept. 1 vs. Oakland, Sept. 6 vs. Baltimore, Sept. 17 at Baltimore and Oct. 2 at Boston) lasted at least six innings, and all fell under the "kept us in the game" umbrella.

There is, in other words, a half-decent chance that a Burnett start won't be a complete fiasco.

How can they survive a Burnett start?

The same way they prepared for the Division Series. With doubts looming over the efficacy of Pettitte and Hughes, the Yankees loaded up on long relievers. They had Burnett, Dustin Moseley and Sergio Mitre ready to go.

With Burnett promoted to the starting rotation, the Yankees should add a 12th pitcher to the mix. Either Nova or Chad Gaudin could throw a few innings if necessary. Take one of those guys in place of Austin Kearns, who didn't hit the field in the Division Series.

If Game 4 winds up being a "white-flag game," a forum for Gaudin, Moseley and Mitre to showcase their stuff, then so be it. That puts more pressure on Sabathia, Pettitte and Hughes, but we know they can handle it. We also know the Yankees' lineup and bullpen will be ready for the Burnett Bailout Plan.

A.J.'s return could be a horror show. But that doesn't preclude the Yankees from enjoying a happy ending.