Yankees were clearly hiding something with nonsensical Aaron Judge injury update

As the Gerrit Cole MRI news takes centerstage and has New York Yankees fans on high alert until further notice, whatever's happening with Aaron Judge has slipped into the background. Maybe a fake Cole MRI was part of the plan to distract? Wouldn't put it past the Yankees! Kidding.

It's all serious, and it's all very much not fun. But lost in the shuffle was the absolute nonsense the Yankees relayed to us about Judge, who already worried fans earlier in the offseason when he said his toe injury from last year will "require maintenance for the rest of my career." That sure sounds good, doesn't it?

Then, on Sunday, Judge was inexplicably removed from the team's spring training game against the Atlanta Braves. He received two at-bats, while everybody else remained in the content and got three.

How'd the Yankees conduct their classic web of lies with this one? First, Boone said removing Judge was always part of Sunday's plan because he wanted to get Trent Grisham (???) at-bats. Judge confirmed that and said Boone asked him about it during batting practice earlier in the day, and the slugger was cool with it.

Hey, that's all fine and great ... if you MAKE THIS KNOWN beforehand, instead of blindsiding everyone with an unexpected Judge removal after knowing how everybody already reacts to these kinds of things.

Yankees are clearly hiding something with nonsensical Aaron Judge injury update

Did you think this was going to get any better? Because it's doesn't.

After all that commentary as Judge and Boone got their stories straight about his removal from the game -- which, again, makes no sense because there wasn't a single other lineup change until after everyone got three at-bats -- Boone revealed that Judge is "mid-spring beat up" and will remain out of action on Monday and Tuesday.

Judge was scheduled to partake in batting practice on Monday, but was then not present when it began.

And we're still not done with the updates! On Tuesday, it was reported Judge underwent an MRI on his abs, and now he won't even swing a bat until later in the week. Now, the goal is for Judge to be ready for Opening Day because "there's no real need to push it."

Absolutely unbelievable organization.

Is anybody else in MLB "mid-spring beat up"? Or did the Yankees, more than likely, make up this injury diagnosis to try and buy time as they address something more serious, which is almost always the case with how these developments transpire?

It's all just a tired act. And odds are the fans' anger is not misplaced. It just needs some time to materialize and eventually be validated when we're hit with the next unexpected news dump surrounding the franchise's most important player.