Absurd Aaron Boone quote about Game 4 Aaron Judge lineup switch proves he's lost it

The goal of any manager is to make necessary tweaks bit by bit, within the realm of comfort, to put players in a position to succeed while being the least disruptive you possibly can. Of course, that hasn't felt like the Yankees' philosophy in quite a while, and Aaron Boone just narrowly avoided adding another chapter to this confusing legacy.

In 2022, Oswald Peraza wasn't seriously considered as the team's starting shortstop in place of Isiah Kiner-Falefa ... until he was, just in time for Game 2 of the ALCS in Houston (it didn't work out). In September, Jasson Dominguez didn't have a lane to contribute ... until he did, putting up a few slapdash weeks marred by defensive inconsistency before he was once again replaced by Alex Verdugo for the playoffs.

And now, after weeks of difficult-to-watch Aaron Judge at-bats in October, with fans waiting to see if Judge and Boone could come to an accord on moving the Yankees' captain slightly down in the lineup for a brief reset, it turns out that nothing will change ... except Judge was almost moved up, actually?

Making any drastic lineup shift down 3-0 in the Fall Classic reeks of desperation -- and, besides, you're really supposed to put plans into action early enough to avoid falling down 3-0 in the first place. But after Boone dropped a lineup featuring Judge in his familiar No. 3 spot once again on Tuesday, he decided to inform the media that he actually considered making No. 99 his leadoff hitter, but decided against it.

You know leadoff. Famously, that's a lineup position with no pressure attached -- and hey, it's currently occupied by Gleyber Torres, representing one of the few midstream tweaks that worked this season! Why not mess with success, though?

Yankees captain Aaron Judge almost supplanted Gleyber Torres as leadoff hitter in Game 4 of World Series

The goal of any swap here would've been to clear a struggling Judge's mind while reducing his number of plate appearances ever so slightly while he tried to figure things out. Would dropping Judge to No. 5 represent an automatic upgrade and a flip of the switch? Probably not, but you'll never know until you try.

Putting him more prominently in the spotlight as the leadoff man and supplanting Torres, who's been a miracle worker atop the order? That would've felt like a desperation heave. Glad it didn't happen, but wish we didn't know about it.