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NEW YORK -- Aaron Judge has been cleared to begin light workout activity, and the New York Yankees captain said he will return this season from the broken rib that's sidelined him since May 31.
"Oh, I'll be back this season. I don't know why I wouldn't be," the three-time AL MVP said Wednesday at Yankee Stadium. "That was always the plan to come back -- sooner than later, definitely. But I never had a thought of not playing this year."
Judge was on the field in baseball gear Wednesday afternoon, stretching, jogging and doing shuffle slides with a resistance band. He was given the green light to take a step forward in his recovery progression after undergoing his latest scan Tuesday.
"Better news. Healing up. So, you get a chance to progress a little bit, do some running, do some more upper-body stuff, and kind of progress towards getting back out on the field and swinging it," he said. "I wish it was completely healed and the fracture was gone and start playing tomorrow, but that's not the case. But, great step forward."
It will still be a while before Judge is back in the lineup. He must first advance to taking swings, and it remains unclear when that could occur.
Neither he nor Yankees manager Aaron Boone offered a target date for the outfielder's return to the lineup.
Trades are expensive
The New York Mets will pay more than $8.1 million to Pittsburgh as part of this week's trade that sent pitcher Luke Weaver to the Pirates for minor league infielder Sammy Stafura, covering most of the nearly $13.4 million remaining on the right-hander's contract.
Pittsburgh will in effect pay Weaver just $229,412 this year, a prorated share of the $780,000 minimum salary. Weaver had $2,352,941 remaining of his $8 million salary for 2026 at the time of Monday's trade and the Mets will pay the Pirates four installments of $530,882 on Aug. 24 and 28, and Sept. 11 and 25, according to trade details obtained by The Associated Press.
New York will pay the Pirates $6 million next year, offsetting most of his $11 million salary for 2027. The Mets owe $500,000 each on April 2, 6 and 30; May 14 and 28; June 11 and 25; July 9 and 23; Aug. 6 and 20; and Sept. 3.
In all, the Mets will give the Pirates $8,123,529. Weaver's $22 million, two-year contract had $13,352,941 left at the time of the trade.
Greene hurt again
CINCINNATI -- Cincinnati Reds right-hander Hunter Greene, who has made only five starts since coming off the injured list, was placed on the 15-day IL Wednesday with right elbow soreness.
According to Reds president of baseball operations Nick Krall, Greene experienced soreness during his side session Tuesday and saw a doctor and had an MRI on Wednesday, but the results were not made available. He's expected to meet with doctors again later this week.
"Don't have a timetable yet," Krall said. "Just have to wait until we get the results."
Greene began the season on the 60-day injured list following surgery in March to remove bone chips from his right elbow. His current IL stint is retroactive to Aug. 2.
Greene went 2-2 with a 6.83 ERA in five starts after making his season debut on July 4.
In April 2023, Greene signed a 6-year, $53 million contract extension with a $21 million club option in 2029.
Dodgers still losing
CHICAGO--Pete Crow-Armstrong and Shohei Ohtani have ramped up their increasingly compelling race for the NL MVP award. Crow-Armstrong homered twice and drove in four runs to help the Chicago Cubs beat Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers 7-6 for a sweep of their three-game series.
The Dodgers have lost six games in a row.
But Ohtani also went deep twice and finished with three hits. Crow-Armstrong is Chicago's regular center fielder, but he served as the designated hitter for the finale against LA. That gave him an opportunity to take a closer look at Ohtani's showing at the plate.
"I just enjoy watching him play baseball," Crow-Armstrong said. "So I guess today for me what was cool was just getting to watch him from a different angle and not worrying about going and trying to catch balls that are hit at 1,000 miles an hour."
Gausman up
CHICAGO -- Kevin Gausman is scheduled to make his first start for the Chicago Cubs on Friday night at Kansas City.
Gausman was acquired in a trade with Toronto on Sunday night, part of a flurry of moves for the Cubs ahead of Monday's deadline. Gausman was added to Chicago's active roster before its 7-6 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Left-hander Antoine Kelly was optioned to Triple-A Iowa. The 35-year-old Gausman is joining a revamped rotation that also includes Clay Holmes, who was acquired from the Mets at the trade deadline.