The only thing stopping Aaron Judge from hitting home runs is the weather.
Judge remained stuck on 54 homers on Tuesday, as his chase for Roger Maris’ record of 61 homers was paused due to Tuesday’s rainout in The Bronx.
And if there’s anything this season has shown, it’s how much the Yankees need Judge in their lineup.
“He’s the best player in the league,” Aaron Boone said Tuesday. “Whether we’re at full strength and everyone’s going, that’s huge. And right now, we’re struggling a little and have guys down. His level of consistency and production are the reason we’re in this position.”
Every home run will no doubt be used by Judge and his agents when it comes to the negotiations following the season after he turned down the Yankees’ extension offer of seven years, $213.5 million before Opening Day.
On the other side will be team president Randy Levine, along with others, who will try to bring the price tag down.
“We know his worth and what he means,” Levine said on “The Show” podcast with The Post’s Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman. “I don’t know what’s in his mind. All we can do is show him how much we’d like him to remain a Yankee.”
But Levine noted the organization believes there are two sides to the situation and that the Yankees also provide value to Judge.
“Like with all free agents, being a Yankee is really important,” Levine said. “It brings a lot that, maybe, a lot of other locations don’t. Now we’re talking about the home run chase with Babe Ruth and Roger Maris: two Yankees. So there’s no issue about, ‘Do we want Aaron Judge back?’ There’s no issue [with] ‘How much we value him.’ It’s a negotiation. What we’ll talk about with him and his representatives in the offseason is, ‘How do we keep him?’ And then it will be up to him to see, does he want to stay here [or] does he want to go someplace else? Is somebody offering him a better deal?”
The market for Judge following his extraordinary — and perhaps record-breaking — season will be set after the World Series and Levine said the Yankees would be there.
“I think we’ll be extraordinarily competitive,’’ Levine said of the Yankees’ approach.
“We think Aaron Judge is an all-time Yankee. We think he’s a great player, beyond a great player. We think he’s a great person. That’s why we offered him the highest position player contract in the history of the Yankees. I admire him that he went out and took this upon his shoulders and we’ll sit down with him and hopefully figure it out. I think there’s no question we want him back and no question we value him.”
And Levine added it will be Hal Steinbrenner and his family who will be cutting any potential checks to Judge — and all other free agents — for the foreseeable future.
“I’ve talked to the Steinbrenners and to Hal and there’s no plans to sell,’’ Levine said. “This is a family business. They intend to be in this forever and give back forever. I don’t think [selling] is something even worth talking about.”