Aaron Judge throws wrench in Yankees' Wild Card roster plans with bizarre interview

Guess that Aaron Judge smirk in the clubhouse in Minnesota after he initially injured his calf wasn't because the injury was minor, but was actually because he knew he was about to cause mischief while harboring a serious bodily impediment?

Aaron Boone all but ruled out Judge not only for the Wild Card series, but for the bulk of the MLB playoffs on Tuesday (however long that ride ends up being for the Yankees). "We're planning on him not being a part of that," Boone told the media ahead of the Yankees' series with the Rays.

Judge ... has other ideas about his own recovery timeline, post-PPP injection and "moderate" strain diagnosis. According to the Captain, he plans to "get [his] body ready so [he's] ready to go" for Game 1 on Tuesday.

That would be an absurdly fast recovery for a calf strain. It would involve playing without recovering, in fact; there's no way he will be in full range of motion by the time the series starts. But that doesn't much seem to matter to Judge, at this point in time.

"We've done a lot of talks, but I can't control what people say," Judge said, presumably referring to Boone's comments. "So you'll have to talk to them about that."

Aaron Judge refutes Aaron Boone's injury timeline, sows Yankees chaos

So, again, for those keeping track at home, a compromised Judge has put out a personal missive refuting what his manager/organizational leadership group thinks about his availability for the playoffs, and seemingly is at least considering strongarming his way onto the roster whether he's deemed ready or not. He's long had an impressive amount of control on the way the organization operates, making personnel recommendations to the front office (Alex Verdugo?) and keeping a keen eye on his rehab assignments/the way his injury timelines are communicated. Pushing to make the roster for a series where it's in nobody's best interest to elevate an inhibited version of Judge would be a wild new swing in a long line of them.

Nobody would refuse Judge's services if he were able to be an approximation of his best self. But if it's against doctor's orders - and, more importantly, the orders of management - that would be creating a chasm in the clubhouse that nobody needs with everything on the line.

Judge is, of course, the captain of this team. The other men on the roster follow his lead. If the series begins with that man demanding to be cleared for takeoff, even if it hurts the team ... that's a bizarre added hurdle that will be difficult to jump through.

Of course (sigh) there's also the world where the best hitter in baseball rejoins the Yankees, mashes, and leads them through a thin playoff field to the promised land. That's what Judge wants. That's the only way this works. It just seems unlikely. That's all.

"I don't make the roster," Judge told ESPN's Jorge Castillo. We're about to find out if that's true.

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