It's normal to look ahead, all the way to October, during spring training. But only in Yankees camp can an ancillary activity of the midseason All-Star game become an issue -- a rather silly one at that.
Aaron Judge has all but decided not to defend his Home Run Derby crown.
WATCH: Evan Roberts Reacts To Aaron Judge Possibly Skipping Home Run Derby
Film at 11.
In the biggest "so what" of spring training anywhere, we have learned Judge has little interest in repeating the 47-homer display that made him the first rookie to win the derby outright. Four of those shots at Marlins Park soared more than 500 feet, and 16 bore exit velocities of 115 mph or better.
For all that, Judge got a trophy, a reduced second-half production rate and a bum shoulder that needed an arthroscopic cleanup in November.
As it has for a number of other players, the Home Run Derby appeared a great waste of effort for the eventual AL Rookie of the Year. A fun experience, but detrimental to an overall performance that still netted him 52 homers and 114 RBIs. It's no secret that the prolonged slump Judge fell into coincided with the Yanks' weak July and August. It may even have aggravated a growing shoulder condition.
Whether or not the Derby caused that, even Judge doesn't know. Or won't say.
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But the fact that the two months immediately following the Derby saw Judge hit .176 with 70 strikeouts in 199 plate appearances certainly leads to that conclusion.
And that sparked a conversation that really has no place in Yankees spring training, or any other team's camp. The fact that Judge will probably pull out of a mere exhibition conducted in prelude to another exhibition -- of fading interest, at that -- should not have created a ripple when so many other more important issues need to be sorted out.
Things such as rookie manager Aaron Boone forgetting to put in a pitcher to start the fifth inning Saturday against the Mets. He had to retrieve Dellin Betances from the clubhouse, all set to shower after giving up a single, two steals and a run the previous inning. But Adam Warren wasn't ready, so Betances went out and pitched to one more batter.
It was an embarrassing moment for Boone, as he got a little too tied up with an in-game interview, but not fatal. A live-and-learn moment.
More important is the work being done on the lineup relationship between Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. Forget the nonsense about Judge hitting leadoff against certain lefties. That probably won't happen. But Boone's musings about breaking up that terrifying duo with a lefty such as Greg Bird or Didi Gregorius holds significantly more weight.
That would cause opposing managers considerable late-game headaches in matching up relievers. But even considering the separation of a gargantuan 2-3 combo that can turn a game in two swings should create much consternation among the brain trust, not to mention the fans who will come out to Yankee Stadium expecting a daily fireworks extravaganza.
Saturday's exhibition should have given a hint at that. Judge, hitting second, walked in the fifth and came around to score when Stanton blasted his first homer of the spring.
Bird and Gregorius are no slouches. But there seems little sense in adding nuance to the Sophie's Choice Judge and Stanton present pitchers back-to-back.
Then there are the rotational questions as Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka work themselves into shape, and the resolution last week that Jordan Montgomery will take the fifth spot while versatile Chad Green stays his monster self in the bullpen.
All those issues draw legitimate lines from spring training to the end of the regular season and beyond. What it doesn't is turn Judge's apparent lean toward bugging out of a completely meaningless Home Run Derby in July into anything of importance.
If the Yanks were smart, they'd encourage Stanton to bug out of there, too.
The Derby just isn't worth the expenditure of energy and risk of injury.
Really, it's not even worth a discussion. Especially in spring training.
Follow Ernie on Twitter at @ErniePalladino
