00:00Well, the Yankees got it done last night.
00:02Craig and I told you here on the show, listen,
00:05Cole at minus 140 against a Tampa Bay Rays team that's probably still drinking
00:10from celebrating closing out the Yankees in the American League East.
00:15Yeah, it worked out pretty good.
00:17Yankees put it on them.
00:18And now I've got Schlittler at about the same price, Craig.
00:22So if it ain't broke, I don't think I'm fixing it.
00:25I think I'm going back to the Yankees here tonight.
00:27Yeah, there's going to be some false hope, I think,
00:29with the Yankees playing as well as they are against Tampa Bay,
00:33just kind of understanding that the Rays are basically playing for nothing right now.
00:37But the Yankees are doing their best to keep hope alive that they can win without Aaron Judge,
00:44although Aaron Judge says he's coming back.
00:46And not only is he coming back, but he's playing the outfield now, right?
00:49Like Joe, he's playing the outfield next week.
00:51Boy, I give him credit for saying these things and wanting to do these things.
00:54And maybe he will, you know, maybe in the end,
00:57we should defer to one of the very best baseball players in the last decade.
01:03Let's defer to him and not be facetious about it.
01:06But it's crazy to me to think that Aaron Judge could be patrolling around the outfield
01:11at Yankee Stadium in a playoff game against Boston.
01:15And should something go sideways or him not be able to get to a ball,
01:19we'll be talking about it in New York for six months.
01:21So I don't know.
01:23I hope he plays.
01:24Obviously, it makes it more interesting.
01:26But time is running out here.
01:28And, you know, to put things in perspective here for everyone,
01:34just, you know, for a bit here, is that by this time next week,
01:39there's a chance that either the Yankees or Red Sox are out of the playoffs.
01:43By this time next week.
01:46Yep.
01:47Next Thursday night.
01:48Because game one and game two, Tuesday and Wednesday.
01:49So we're at that time of the year, Joe, where all this talk about, you know,
01:56these long seasons and making the playoffs.
01:58Yeah, they got to, Yankees have to go in playing as hot as they possibly can.
02:02You know, people will ask next week, is there more pressure on Boston
02:07or more pressure on New York?
02:08There's more pressure on New York.
02:10And by the way, it's not always the case.
02:12Somebody would say, oh, it's all, there's always more pressure on New York.
02:14No, the Yankees are at home.
02:16The Red Sox had a miracle season to get into the wild card.
02:20If the Red Sox lose the series, they'll be upset.
02:24But you'd still call it a successful season for Boston,
02:27battling back from being as far down as they were to make it.
02:30It will not be a successful season if the Yankees lose to the Red Sox in the first round
02:33with or without Aaron Judge.
02:36I agree.
02:37I just can't get over the fact that you got Boone toeing the line,
02:44saying that, you know, the right thing, you know, mild strength.
02:48The front office is on one page, and then Aaron Judge is going,
02:53I have no idea why he's saying that.
02:56It's great that you plan on playing, but trust me,
03:00it is not up to Aaron Judge if he is going to be playing or not.
03:04And I'm just shocked there's that kind of disconnect.
03:07And if Aaron Judge is wanting, hey, listen, it's been a rough year.
03:11I get it.
03:12He wants to be out there.
03:14Of course you do.
03:15But to your point, there's a lot of money invested in Aaron Judge.
03:19And if a strained calf turns into an Achilles problem, Craig,
03:23you know, sometimes you got to save the athlete from himself, right?
03:26I expect Aaron Judge wants to play, but acting like he has no idea what's going on
03:32and that he is, that's not what's going on here.
03:35There can't be that kind of disconnect, can there be?
03:39No, it's a little bit strange.
03:42You know, messaging with teams is not always perfect.
03:46I know from experience.
03:49Believe me when I tell you, I know from experience.
03:51I'm way more behind the scenes than anybody that's currently on the air at this moment,
03:57probably talking about this.
04:01So, you know, let me guess.
04:03Let me take a guess at this.
04:04Again, this is a full disclaimer.
04:07Craig Mish's complete guess as to what's going on with Aaron Judge.
04:10My guess is that they have not talked at all with Aaron Judge about this.
04:17That's my guess.
04:18Aaron Judge has the kind of stature where no one is above an organization,
04:26but he's as close to it gets to calling his own shots within an organization.
04:31He's as close as it's going to get.
04:32It's not Otani level, who we know calls his own shots, but it's pretty close.
04:37So my guess is when he goes on the IEL, he meets with the doctors.
04:42The doctors give him a timeline, and then, you know, Judge says, you know, in all likelihood,
04:47well, I'm going to beat that timeline, and I'm going to come back faster.
04:50And then the doctors say, well, you know, it's probably not the smartest move,
04:53but I guess we'll wait and see, because that's all they can do, wait and see.
04:57And then Judge, at this point, wants to play so badly that probably he is just simply
05:05not thinking it through yet and just saying, hey, I'm going to be back.
05:09Now, give him the benefit of the doubt, but Joe, if he ain't running around on Sunday,
05:13he's not playing the outfield on Tuesday, I assure you that.
