Add The New York Post on Google No matter what the Yankees did — or didn’t do — by Monday’s trade deadline, it won’t mean much if Aaron Judge doesn’t return from the fractured rib that’s kept him out since the beginning of June.
Though general manager Brian Cashman expressed optimism the right fielder would return to play this season, he also acknowledged there’s no guarantee he will.
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Asked on a conference call following Monday’s deadline if he had any “concern” Judge might not heal enough to get back on the field, Cashman said, “Is that possible? It’s always possible that things don’t go the way you want. But we currently are still very optimistic that he’s gonna return.”
That’s why the Yankees were looking to add prior to the deadline and did acquire a pair of additions for the lineup in Heliot Ramos from the Giants and Luis García Jr. from the Nationals.
The righty-lefty-hitting duo should aid an offense that’s floundered in the two months without Judge, and the situation only worsened with the loss of Cody Bellinger to a hamstring injury that will likely keep him out until September.
But no one the Yankees could have picked up at the deadline can make up for not having Judge, so his presence is a must for them to have a legitimate shot in October.
Aaron Judge #99, Giancarlo Stanton #27 (L) and Anthony Volpe #11 of the New York Yankees celebrate after an RBI single by Ben Rice. Getty Images Of the possibility that Judge doesn’t heal well enough to get back, Cashman said, “I can’t rule any of it out. I know I can only follow the guidelines so far and the timeline, the time frame is there’s a very high likelihood his time frame is he’s back to join us. That’s what I’m hoping and holding on to. I know that’s what he believes [and] I know that’s what the doctors believe, but it’s always a moving target till you get closer to deployment.”
Cashman and the Yankees have consistently avoided putting a potential timeline on Judge’s return — or even on when he is expected to get imaged again on the injury.
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Clearly, though, it’s not anytime soon, and as Cashman also said Monday, they’ll have to get Judge right even when he is healthy.
“There are challenges with all that, too,” Cashman said. “Whenever that time frame is, [there’s] ramping him up [and] getting his timing down.”
Until Judge progresses to more baseball activities and gets the green light to do more on the field, there will continue to be a scary unknown in The Bronx, especially since he’s been limited in what he can do by the area and type of injury.
When — or if — Judge advances to more baseball activities, Cashman said they will have a “much better picture of how much longer this is gonna take.”
