SIXTH SENSE

Whichever team signs Shohei Otani will feel like it hit the lottery, considering how little the cost will be, at least initially, for such a premier talent. But if it’s the Yankees, as many baseball people feel is likely, the timing will not only make them a favorite to reach the World Series, it could also open the door for GM Brian Cashman to load up his starting rotation as he did his bullpen last year. Alex Cobb, anyone? Obviously Otani alone would upgrade the rotation, if he lives up to the hype as a No.1 starter. But his addition might prompt the Yankees to experiment more with a six-man rotation, as they did in September last season.

“They would have some arms they’d probably want to protect,” was the way an executive from a rival team put it.

As it is, the Yankees are always concerned about keeping Masahiro Tanaka fresh. Meanwhile, Otani, like Tanaka, pitched only once a week in Japan, and probably would benefit from adjusting slowly to pitching more often.

In addition, Sonny Gray dealt with an assortment of injuries with the A’s, and at 5-10, 180 pounds, he might be more likely to stay healthy if he gets extra rest, at least from time to time.

Lefty Jordan Montgomery will still have some restrictions after throwing 163 innings as a rookie last season, and the Yankees may even want to protect ace Luis Severino from an October hangover, after he was pushed to 209 innings at age 23.

Bringing back CC Sabathia on a short-term deal could provide some flexibility, but as well as the big lefty pitched last season, the Yankees might see him as too much of a gamble, going into his age-38 season with the bad knee that has made him rather famously reliant on his miracle brace.

They also have top prospect Chance Adams, but someone like Cobb, one of the better pitchers in the American League over the final two months of last season, might fit perfectly as a free agent, and together with Otani, give the Yankees the deepest rotation in the majors.

It’s not like the Yankees don’t have money to spend. Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner have made it clear their priority is getting under the luxury-tax threshold, yet fitting Cobb’s likely $16-$18-million-a-year salary into the payroll wouldn’t prevent that.

After all, they have some $70 million coming off the payroll in the contracts of CC Sabathia, Alex Rodriguez, Matt Holliday, and Michael Pineda.

Their final figure last season was about $209 million, according to reports, so their payroll going into the offseason is in the $150 million range, and Otani is going to be a minimum-salary rookie — the $3.5 million they can pay him from their international draft pool doesn’t count on the payroll.

Even if you count in arbitration raises and the $13 million or so that is tacked on to the major league payroll number to cover all facets of a 40man roster for luxury-tax purposes — and Cashman made sure to leave room to add salary via trades next July, the Yankees should be well under next year’s $197 million threshold.

So they have room to spend, but with all of their young talent they have little need for a position player, especially if Otani gets his share of the at-bats in the DH spot, as he’ll apparently want wherever he signs.

Cobb, meanwhile, is the third or fourth-best starter in this free-agent class, along with Lance Lynn. I can’t see the Yankees investing big bucks in either of the top two, Yu Darvish or Jake Arrieta, but Cobb is an intriguing guy.

He’d probably be more appealing than Lynn, mainly because Cobb has proven he can succeed in the AL East. He does come with risk, however, having had his share of injuries, including Tommy John surgery two years ago.

Last season, however, Cobb, who turned 30 in October, pitched well in his comeback from the elbow surgery, stayed healthy, and got better as the season went on, finishing at 12-10 with a 3.66 ERA for the Rays.

Injuries have always hampered his durability, and his 179 1/3 innings last season represent the high-water mark for a season, so Cobb is another guy who could benefit from extra rest.

Still, he’ll be in demand, and if the Yankees weren’t willing to go beyond four years, and perhaps $70 million, you couldn’t blame them. After all, if they do get Otani they may feel obligated to offer him a big, multi-year deal after his first season, even though he’ll technically be like any other player coming out of the minors — under their control for six seasons.

In any case, adding another starter would also allow the Yankees to leave Chad Green in relief and keep their loaded bullpen intact.

It all starts with Otani. If he does choose to play in the Bronx, I wouldn’t be surprised if Cashman took his good fortune and, in some way, doubled down on it.

HALL MUSINGS

Regarding the Hall of Fame ballot that came out last week: of the first-timers, Chipper Jones is a first-ballot lock, Jim Thome probably will get in as well, and then come three players who cause a lot of debate: Scott Rolen, Andruw Jones, and Omar Vizquel.

I’ve seen questions raised about Thome, specifically that he had only one Top 5 MVP finish during his career, and I have to admit, I didn’t necessarily think of him as a Hall of Famer while he was playing.

But it’s all but impossible to argue with his numbers. Even in an era of inflated offense — there was never any steroids innuendo around Thome — his stats are spectacular.

Most notably, Thome hit 612 home runs, had a .402 on-base percentage and slugged .556 for a career .956 OPS over 22 seasons. Or: more home runs and a significantly higher OPS than Reggie Jackson or Willie McCovey

As for the others, as recently as a decade ago Rolen and Jones wouldn’t have had a chance, but voters have come to value all phases of the game more than in the past, which to me is a good thing.

Rolen was spectacular defensively at third base, winning eight Gold Gloves while putting up credible offensive numbers, and Jones was one of the best center fielders of all-time, winning 10 straight Gold Gloves and going on to hit 438 home runs.

I’m not sure they’ll get in, or even if I’ll vote for them on what is now a very crowded ballot, but they have a chance.

As for Vizquel, I loved him for his flashy defense. It’s possible he had the best hands in the history of shortstops, turning the bare-handed play into an art form.

But was he really as good as Ozzie Smith, with whom he is compared? I don’t always trust the defensive metrics but they show a big gap compared to Ozzie, and their offense is similar, so I’m just not sure on him yet.

Also, Johan Santana deserves consideration. He was the best pitcher in baseball for about four years while winning two Cy Young Awards with the Twins, but he needed a few more years of dominance, especially after hurting his arm with the Mets and making only 21 starts after age 31.

SECOND OPTIONS

The Mets have plenty of options as far as acquiring a second baseman, from signing Neil Walker for a second go-round in Queens, to trading for Ian Kinsler, Dee Gordon , or Jason Kipnis.

I think Kinsler makes the most sense, primarily because he’ll be on a one-year deal, and it will cost nothing of value to trade for him because the rebuilding Tigers just want to unload his $11 million.

Ideally, sure, Gordon is the guy, but the Marlins are going to want top prospects in return, and the Mets have so few of them that they can’t afford to make that type of trade.

Kipnis, meanwhile, has $28 million coming the next two years, and at age 31 he’s coming off a down year offensively.

Walker seemed to take a step backward defensively, had a so-so year offensively, and you have to wonder if he’ll ever be quite the same player since back surgery in September of 2016.

Kinsler had a poor year offensively as well, but scouts think he lacked motivation after the Tigers’ season fell apart, and he’s still rangy and solid defensively. He’ll be playing for a contract — I’d take a shot with him.

JUDGING HIM NOW

So maybe Aaron Judge’s shoulder injury, for which he had a clean-up surgery last week, really was a factor in his secondhalf slump.

He chased a lot more pitches up and out of the strike zone, but he also wasn’t squaring up those just-above-the-belt fastballs that he was crushing early in the season and again in September.

In any case, it’s more reason to believe Judge is no one-year wonder. I think he hits 55 or more next season.