Aaron Boone stubbornly refuses to make the necessary change to the team before Game 2

While New York Yankees and their fan base boasts the most World Series wins with a franchise, that doesn’t make them any less desperate in this year’s Fall Classic against the Los Angeles Dodgers. After all, it has been 15 years since their last win and appearance (2009) and this is also their only win since 2000.

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

Unfortunately, it appears that Boone is far 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 New York Post that Boone must move Judge from hole no. 3 in the ranking, flipping it with Giancarlos Stanton at the heart of the order. As he noted, Boone almost certainly won’t, sending an unintended but necessary message to the likely AL World Series MVP — but again, it’s the move that should be made.

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

However, this wasn’t just a game to overreact to with a lineup change regarding Judge and Stanton. For the postseason to this point, Judge has just a .167/.304/.361 slash line, good for a paltry .665 OPS. Sure, he has two home runs and a double, but that’s short of his 16 hits so far in the playoffs.

Instead, it was Stanton who emerged as 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 RBIs in 10 playoff games.

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

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

Again, this is not a move Aaron Boone is likely to make. But if Judge’s postseason woes only got worse in Game 2, maybe the break and some time to think about it might be enough for the Yankees manager to have a much-needed change of heart.