Aaron Judge speculation running rampant after Yankees' late night roster move

The Yankees dropped a tough but disappointing series to the Padres over the weekend and failed to gain ground in the AL East race. They trail the Rays by four games for the division lead and the Red Sox are 2.5 games back of New York in the AL Wild Card picture (3.5 if you count the tiebreaker).

But it seems as if the Yanks are nearing the best news they've gotten in months. After Sunday's series finale — a 4-3 loss as their comeback fell short — the team optioned Elmer Rodriguez back to Triple-A Scranton ... but with no corresponding move there's a lot of speculation swirling.

The Yankees are returning to the Bronx for a six-game homestand against the Rockies and Mets, which begins on Tuesday. Previous rumors suggested Aaron Judge could be back at some point during that stretch, and here we are. There's an open roster spot, and Greg Joyce of the New York Post confirmed that Clarke Schmidt won't be getting the call to take Rodriguez's place.

Before Sunday's game, manager Aaron Boone confirmed Schmidt needs a few more outings in the minor leagues before being activated. The right-hander has logged just 4 2/3 innings of work on his rehab assignment — his first action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year.

So does that mean Judge is set to be activated within the next 36 hours? Every other injured Yankee is not close to a return. Trent Grisham is likely missing the rest of the regular season with a hamstring injury. Giancarlo Stanton ... we'll believe it when we see it. Ryan Weathers just began throwing again. Fernando Cruz isn't coming back anytime soon.

Aaron Judge could return to Yankees after over three months on the injured list

When asked about Judge potentially returning on Tuesday, Boone responded, "I don't know, we'll see." Judge also conducted a pregame interview with Meredith Marakovits on Sunday (he traveled with the team on the West Coast road trip and just took live batting practice for the first time since getting injured) and said "hopefully I can get back out on the field as soon as possible."

To be quite honest, the Yankees wouldn't put Judge in this position if they weren't confident he'd be able to return. He was asked about his timeline on numerous occasions since suffering his rib injury and batted away reporters constantly, refusing to provide any specifics whatsoever.

Now he's suggesting optimism and smirking during his first one-on-one interview since late May? Yeah ... we're usually pessimists, but this screams "see you against the Rockies."

Not to mention, Judge has said he doesn't want to go on a minor league rehab assignment, and it's clear the Yankees will respect that wish. Boone mentioned over the weekend that it's possible Judge has a version of a rehab assignment at the big league level upon his return, which would feature a mix of starts, abbreviated outings, off days and DH days.

It's all lining up for the reigning AL MVP to return for the stretch run and boost the Yankees' World Series chances.

We can see Judge getting activated Tuesday, appearing in a game on Wednesday in some capacity, getting an off day on Thursday, and then seeing action on Friday and Sunday of the Subway Series. That's just our guesstimation, but it feels right based on the information the Yankees are sharing.

It's the most revealing they've been in months about Judge, and it's all coming out rather quickly. Tuesday could be the day, Yankees fans. And then the Rays will be in big, big trouble.

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