Aaron Judge's response to Giancarlo Stanton situation creates more Yankees confusion

The ever-evolving Giancarlo Stanton situation has New York Yankees fans feeling worse and worse by the hour. Every update that has followed the original elbow discomfort has provided more and more reason for concern.

The timeline of it all has been agonizing to follow, and multiple layers were added on Monday. After it was reported Stanton would be heading back to New York to undergo further testing on his elbows, manager Aaron Boone came out and said Stanton's trip back north was due to a "personal issue" the manager refused to elaborate upon. Boone delivered more of the same on Tuesday, indicating that it was Stanton's choice whether he eventually explained things further or not.

Then, later in the day, Aaron Judge was asked about the situation, and he said he'd been communicating with Stanton daily. That's nice. But then he dropped a comment about the slugger's return and we're unsure of how to interpret it.

Judge said he "wants a healthy G in the middle of the season." Does that mean Stanton is in danger of missing half of the season? Or does it mean Judge wants to ensure the former MVP isn't rushed back and compromised in the middle of the summer, only to eventually affect his production down the stretch?

It's unclear if we'll get clarity on that, but, yeah, leave it to the Yankees to make an already convoluted situation surrounding one of their most important players even more stressful.

Yankees' Aaron Judge responds to Giancarlo Stanton injury at spring training

Judge likely knows more than we do, so perhaps he revealed a bit too much information to the public in his commentary. Then again, he's lived through this many times. Stanton has averaged about 80 games per season (not counting the abbreviated 2020 campaign) since arriving in the Bronx back in 2018. His injury history is extensive and his ability to stay on the field is poor.

But he's one of the most clutch hitters in the game and has been a driving force for the Yankees during various October appearances, most notably this past year when his bat almost singlehandedly took New York to the World Series. The reality of the situation is that the Yankees are paying for his bat to be available in the playoffs. They are not relying on him to log 150 games per year.

There lies the problem, however. The Yankees know Stanton is missing at least 50+ games per year, but they never address their depth properly. And this situation is all the more alarming because they knew about his injury last year, knew it was getting worse over the offseason, and still didn't find a way to replace his DH reps in order to protect the hitters around him.

The Yankees ignoring yet another constant issue fans point out on an annual basis. Feels like it's almost intentional at this point.