As Judge continues recovering from a chip fracture in his right wrist, the Yankees have agreed to a trade with the San Francisco Giants for McCutchen, a source tells ESPN’s Buster Olney. McCutchen, a 31-year-old, five-time All-Star outfielder, will bolster the Yankees’ offense and defense until their big power-hitting, hard-throwing 26-year-old right fielder can come back.

And when that will be remains anybody’s guess.

Consider the following five words from manager Aaron Boone’s pregame news conference Thursday afternoon, several hours before the deal for McCutchen was made:

“Making progress, but slow still.”nike nfl jerseys wholesale cheap

That was part of Boone’s update on Judge, who continues to deal with the wrist injury that sidelined him exactly five weeks ago when he was hit on the right ulnar styloid bone by a 94 mph pitch.

Initially, the Yankees had predicted a three-week recovery period.

They have since blown past that, with no clear indication as to when Judge will be able to return.

“[Thursday] was a good day,” Boone said. “Another positive step for him.”cheap nike nfl jerseys paypal

Sure, Judge was able to run the bases, do some conditioning work, read fly balls and ground balls in right field, throw a little — albeit not yet at full intensity — and undergo some rehab exercises. But he still has yet to swing a bat. The bone is still broken, and it’s causing pain at the point of full range of motion.

Boone remains optimistic that once the pain completely disappears and Judge resumes swinging, he will be back in the mix very quickly.

But when will that be?

That question helps answer why the Yankees apparently felt they had to make this move. The tedious nature of Judge’s healing process has led them to a tipping point of sorts as they try to stay within reach the Red Sox in the American League East while holding on to a wild-card spot.

In getting McCutchen in time to make him eligible for their postseason roster, the Yankees bring into the fold a player who has spent all of this season playing right field. Although he had spent nearly all of his 10 seasons playing center field entering the season, McCutchen has played all but one of his 128 games for the Giants in right.

The lone game he didn’t play in right? He served as San Francisco’s designated hitter.

Since Judge’s injury, New York’s primary DH, Giancarlo Stanton, has been forced into playing the field more regularly than the Yankees would like. Their version of the “Iron Man,” Stanton has missed only one game this season, way back in May.