Yankees GM pours cold water over early Aaron Judge return

No, New York Yankees fans, slugger Aaron Judge is not returning from his lingering toe injury ahead of schedule. 

According to SNY, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman confirmed Thursday that there remains no timetable for when Judge will be back in the lineup. Cashman added that Judge "still has more steps to take," such as running the bases and completing multiple rehab games. 

Similar to others associated with the Yankees, Cashman insisted the reigning American League Most Valuable Player will return "at some point" during the second half of the ongoing season. 

Per Christian Arnold of the New York Post, retired player Bret Boone raised eyebrows during a recent appearance on "The Zach Gelb Show" when he shared an interesting claim regarding Judge. Bret Boone is the brother of Yankees manager Aaron Boone. 

"I’m hearing some grumblings he’s going to be back right after the All-Star break, so we’ll see if I’m right," Bret Boone said. He was sure to note Aaron Boone was not his source. 

That source seemingly was always likely to be incorrect. Just last week, ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney mentioned that the Yankees would "be thrilled if (Judge) played sometime in July." The five-time All-Star last featured for the club when he suffered a torn ligament in his big right toe during a victory at the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 3, and Judge admitted back on July 4 he doesn't know if the toe will "ever feel normal." 

The Yankees were 35-25 when Judge went down but will enter Friday's series opener at the Colorado Rockies (34-57) at 49-42. New York trails the first-place Tampa Bay Rays by eight games in the AL East standings and is one game back in the race for a wild-card spot as of the final day of the All-Star break. 

Across 49 games this season, Judge hit .291 with 19 home runs, 40 RBI and a 1.078 OPS.