Yankees Must Get Moving After Latest Brutal Injury News

Back in late April, New York Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton exited a win over the Houston Astros with some calf tightness and was initially listed as day-to-day.

Yes, Stanton has experienced plenty of injuries in the past, but this one didn't appear to be too big of a deal.

Here we are over two months later, and the second coming of Mr. October still doesn't have a definitive timetable for his return.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone has revealed that Stanton still isn't all that close to returning, and while the team expects the designated hitter back this season, he is "surprised it's been this long."

Stanton seemed on track to return last month before a setback occurred while he was running the bases during a workout. He has been able to increase his work on the treadmill, but he still isn't running yet.

With Aaron Judge also out for the foreseeable future due to a stress fracture in his rib, New York may now have to start considering alternatives.

What if Stanton doesn't return this season? Can the Yankees afford to keep waiting? Judge is expected back, but he isn't even having re-imaging done for another several weeks. That could put him on track for a September return.

New York absolutely cannot muster to be without its two best hitters for that long. Especially not with the way the lineup has produced in recent weeks.

The MLB trade deadline is Aug. 3, and at this point, the Yankees need to take action.

Biding time until the returns of Stanton and Judge made sense up until now. At this stage, it has become too risky, particularly with New York sliding in the American League standings and genuinely being in danger of missing the playoffs.

Minnesota Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers has regularly been floated as a potential option for the Yanks, but they may need more than that.

It might be time for the Yankees to start calling around baseball to see which sluggers could be available in the coming weeks, because it's becoming abundantly clear that neither Stanton nor Judge are walking through that door anytime soon.

Theoretically, New York just needs Stanton and Judge healthy for the playoffs ... but the Yankees need to get there first.

In order to be sure that New York's 2026 campaign is not met with a 2023-like end, Brian Cashman needs to start working the phones now to find a fix.

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