Anthony Volpe Has Officially Fallen from Grace with Yankees
The New York Yankees searched for a long time to find their Derek Jeter replacement. They thought Anthony Volpe was it. After his retirement in 2014, the Yankees suddenly had a hole at shortstop they hadn't had since the 1990s.
They cycled through options, with Didi Gregorius primarily taking the role but never quite anchoring New York as they'd hoped. They tried Gleyber Torres, a top prospect, whose awful defense forced a move to second base. Then, Volpe, another top prospect, came up.
Volpe was decent as a rookie in 2023, winning a Gold Glove and showing enough (83 wRC+) in his first big-league action to suggest bigger things were coming. They haven't come yet, and the shortstop just got optioned to Triple-A after completing a rehab assignment. His future is suddenly in doubt.
Yankees option Anthony Volpe despite health
Anthony Volpe was supposed to be the shortstop of the future. Unfortunately, his bat has never materialized, and his defense has regressed since a pretty great first two seasons with the glove. Now, he's not even with the MLB club.
The Yankees traded for Jose Caballero last year, envisioning him as a versatile defensive option and pinch-runner. Caballero can play five positions pretty well. Now, he's entrenched as the shortstop because he's been decent in Volpe's absence.
Volpe had shoulder surgery in the offseason, and he just completed his rehab assignment. Normally, when MLBers go through their rehab, they rejoin the big-league team. Not this time, since Caballero has done a good enough job to make the Yankees reconsider their shortstop hierarchy.
In the last 21 games, Caballero is mashing. He's hitting .316 and has driven in 11 runs as the Yankees continue to surge. They lead the American League, and Caballero has been right in the middle of it, which is unfortunate for Volpe's future prospects.
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Jose Caballero may have stolen the job
The Yankees would prefer if Anthony Volpe was reliable enough to play shortstop so they could use Jose Caballero in different ways to provide versatility and rest days. They could, in that scenario, give the struggling Jazz Chisholm a day off or get hyper-aggressive with the matchups at third base.
Instead, Caballero has been pretty good at shortstop and Volpe is coming off a dreadful season in 2025. No matter what he did in his rehab assignment, Volpe has tons of work to do to move past his 0.7-fWAR season.
"Caballero is playing the heck out of the position and playing really well," manager Aaron Boone on Sunday. "That complicates it." Caballero is right at league average on offense (99 wRC+, just one percent shy of the MLB average), excellent on defense (seven defensive runs saved), and a good base-runner. Volpe hasn't been those things in a while.
"He's been right in the middle of that, defensively and offensively," Boone said. "He's earned some opportunities there. It's really as simple as that." If Volpe remains in the minors for 20 more days, it will impact his service time, pushing his free agency to 2029. That could complicate the relationship between the Yankees and their former top prospect even more.
