Yankees activate Giancarlo Stanton before Aaron Judge in huge roster shuffle

The Yankees have activated Giancarlo Stanton, Gio Urshela, and Jonathan Loaisiga in one monstrous roster move.

Fans expected the Yankees to activate Gio Urshela and relief ace Jonathan Loaisiga on Tuesday as much-needed roster reinforcements.

What they didn’t anticipate was one of the two-man monster calvary returning as well.

At 3:12 PM EST, the Yanks brought Loaisiga and Urshela up, but dropped a third name on the ledger: Giancarlo Stanton, whose recovery timeline the team kept intentionally murky, so as not to upset anyone.

As it stands, he’ll return a little more than a month after he officially hit the IL on Aug. 9, just about in line with his initial prognosis. In order to clear the requisite roster space, the team temporarily cut ties with one player who’s underperformed all year long, and one who was just starting to get hot, though both moves make sense.

Yes, that’s Miguel Andujar and Mike Ford down, with Thairo Estrada, Tyler Wade and Erik Kratz all remaining with the big club. If you’d told us that at the start of Summer Camp, we wouldn’t have believed you.

Ford struggled mightily all year long, seemingly abandoning his robust patience and putting up a Gary Sanchez-like .135 mark. With Urshela back and DJ LeMahieu able to serve as the backup first baseman, Ford lost much of his import.

Andujar’s bat has certainly helped lately, but with Clint Frazier soon to shift over to left field full time when Aaron Judge returns, he’s no longer needed as insurance at any of the positions he usually dominates, as Mike Tauchman and Brett Gardner both remain fully healthy, and Stanton should be the full-time DH. Estrada has looked slightly iffy and Andujar-esque on defense lately as well, though, which means he likely maintained his roster spot on versatility alone.

Giancarlo Stanton will return to the Yankees before Aaron Judge.

Thanks to recent reports and blurry footage from between the bushes thanks to Scranton’s Conor Foley (sincere thank you), we thought we might get Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge both back this week, but couldn’t be too sure. Stanton, who mashed prior to landing on the shelf, batting .293 with a trio of homers in just 41 ABs, seemed likely to stroll through the door alongside Judge as the Yankees attempted to cash in on their bet of keeping both men the exact right amount of fresh and healthy for the postseason.

But, as it stands, Stanton surprisingly stampeded through the barricade first. Assuming full health, he’ll get 13 games to prove his readiness for a wild Wild Card Round, likely on the road. Judge will, unfortunately, have fewer than that.

No time to fret about that, though. Andujar, Estrada, Wade, Tauchman and Gardner at-bats just became Urshela and Stanton chances, and the bullpen has received a much-needed shot of adrenaline, too.

Good news is indeed possible, for the moment.

Well, at least until Aaron Boone speaks later on Tuesday evening; Gleyber Torres isn’t playing after one pinch-hitting appearance and a day off.

Sigh. Sighing forever.

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