Yankees' Aaron Judge has Torn Ligament in Toe, No Timetable for Return

Things have not been for the New York Yankees at the major league level, and it will only get tougher now. 

Prior to the Yankees 1-0 victory over the Texas Rangers on Saturday,  word came down that Aaron Judge is suffering from a torn ligament in the right big toe he injured while crashing through the right field fence at Dodgers Stadium earlier this month. 

Aaron Boone gave no time table for Judge's return, but, added he expects Judge to return this season. 

The sobering news is not a good one for the Yankees, who are clinging to the last wild card slot as the LA Angels and Boston Red Sox are circling. The Yankees are already 10.5 games out of first place in the AL East. 

With Judge out seemingly for an undisclosed amount of time, that could -- not saying it will -- but could be for the season, it puts everything on the table for the Yankees. 

Very rarely over the past 25 years of Yankees postseason excellence have they been sellers at the deadline. Since the wild card was first introduced in 1995, and since the Yankees have been a perenial playoff team since that '95 season, only a couple of times where they sellers. 

 

The last time was 2016 when they dealt Aroldis Chapman to the Cubs to get Gleyber Torres, Billy McKinny and Adam Warren in return. 

2016 was the start of the Baby Bombers, which featured the likes of Judge, Torres and Gary Sanchez. In 2017, they exploded onto the scene beginning this current run the Yanks have been on. 

Now, they could be in a position to re-tool again. 

Torres could be a trade chip. As could Josh Donaldson and D.J. LeMahieu. 

Giancarlo Stanton would be a very expensive piece to move, if the Yankees really go hell or high water on selling. 

But the Yankees could do it, if they want to because they have the minor leaguers to build this thing back up again. 

When the Yankees promoted Anthony Volpe at the start of the season it was just the beginning. 

There is a plethora of talent coming up through the system. 

Jasson Dominguez, Austin Wells, Trey Sweeney, Clayton Beeter are just a handful of names that are dominating right now at Double-A Somerset. The Patriots just clinched the first half title on Friday, and are in position to repeat as Double-A Eastern League champions come the fall. 

 

The Yankees have a future. So if Aaron Judge's big toe spells the end of postseason dreams in 2023 for the Big League squad, they can regroup very easily.