Imperfect Yankees can survive in broken American League while Aaron Judge heals

If stuff is really annoying you about the Yankees — that Anthony Volpe is playing shortstop with regularity or that there just is not bottom-of-the-line production or that you don’t trust anyone in the bullpen — just remember this:

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The American League stinks.

This is possibly the greatest ally the Yankees have with Aaron Judge in the first inning of a long absence, while no one should expect Max Fried or Giancarlo Stanton to come through that door quickly as a counterweight to the missing captain.

The Yankees are imperfect. But the American League is broken. With a late surge to beat the Red Sox 6-1 Sunday, the Yankees actually tied the Rays for the AL East lead and the best record in the league. Forty percent of the season has been played and just five AL teams are better than .500. This provides the Yankees grace while they (1) try to get whole injury-wise, (2) attempt to see if Carlos Lagrange’s big arm can help the bullpen, and (3) work toward the trade deadline to address their biggest shortcomings.