Aaron Boone stubbornly refuses to make needed lineup change ahead of Game 2

While the New York Yankees and their fanbase can boast by far the most World Series wins by a franchise, that doesn't make them any less desperate in the Fall Classic this year against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, it's been 15 years since their last win and appearance (2009) and that is their only win since 2000 as well.

So after a heartbreaking loss in Los Angeles in Game 1 with Freddie Freeman's walk-off grand slam heroics, Yankees fans are looking to manager Aaron Boone to make the necessary adjustments to get this team back into and avoid falling behind in a 2-0 hole before the series heads to the Bronx.

Unfortunately, it seems like Boone is being way too stubborn to make the one change that needs to be made with the Yankees lineup and superstar Aaron Judge.

MLB insider Jon Heyman opined for the New York Post that Boone needs to move Judge out of the No. 3 hole in the lineup, flipping him with Giancarlos Stanton in the heart of the order. As he noted, Boone almost surely won't do that, sending an unintentional but necessary message to the likely AL MVP in the World Series — but again, it's the move that should be made.

Aaron Boone's refusal to move Aaron Judge down in lineup could cost Yankees a World Series

Judge's poor October continued on Friday night as the slugger went a measly 1-for-5 with three strikeouts. But more damning was his ninth-inning popout to the shortstop with two outs after the Dodgers walked Juan Soto to put two runners on in a 2-2 game. Judge came up with nothing, the game went to extras, and now the Yankees are down 1-0 in the World Series.

This wasn't just one game to overreact to with a lineup change regarding Judge and Stanton, though. For the postseason to this point, Judge has only a .167/.304/.361 slash line, good for a meager .665 OPS. Sure, he has two home runs and a double but that's dwarfed by his 16 strikeouts thus far in the playoffs.

Contrarily, Stanton has been the one performing like a superstar in the playoffs. After Game 1 of the World Series, the ALCS MVP has a 1.159 OPS with a .282/.364/.795 slash line to go with six homers, two doubles and 13 RBI over 10 playoff games.

As the Yankees ran through the AL Central in the postseason to reach the World Series, Stanton and Soto providing the fireworks and cornerstones for the offense was good enough to warrant keeping Judge's spot in the lineup safe. This isn't the AL Central, though (no offense). This is the LA Dodgers, a real-life superteam that can strike like Freeman did in the bottom of the 10th inning at any given moment and any spot in the lineup.

In a spot like that, having a struggling Judge behind Soto puts the Yankees at a disadvantage, one that they can ill afford as the margin for error has been dramatically diminished.

Again, this isn't a move that Aaron Boone is likely to make. But if Judge's postseason woes only worsen in Game 2, perhaps the break and some time to think about it could be enough for the Yankees manager to have a much-needed change of heart.