INJURED OR NOT, THE YANKEES NEED TO MOVE AWAY FROM VOLPE

Let’s get honest, because the fairy tale has gone on long enough. Anthony Volpe didn’t earn his way to the Bronx — he was fast-tracked, rushed, and dropped into the majors because the New York Yankees had a gaping hole at shortstop and a marketing department itching for a savior. Local kid! Italian name! Future captain! It was a beautiful pitch. The results? Not so much. Injury or not, I'm done with this kid and you should be too.

Three seasons in, Volpe hasn’t moved the needle even a millimeter. He’s not exciting. He’s not dangerous. He’s not dependable. He’s the same flawed player he was on day one — except now we’ve wasted years pretending development happens by wishful thinking alone. He looks like a high school hitter trapped in a major league body, and that’s not his fault. That’s on the organization that shoved him into the spotlight and never gave him a safety net.

And let’s not gloss over this: Volpe has never been optioned to Triple-A. Not once. Now he’s coming off shoulder surgery and won’t be ready for Opening Day anyway. The optimistic take is that once he’s healthy, everything magically clicks. The realistic take? He’s posted a .660 OPS for three straight seasons. That’s not a slump — that’s who he is.

Yes, he’ll get a rehab assignment. He has to. But the Yankees should do more than that. They should finally admit the obvious.

Enter José Caballero, who is filling in at shortstop and quietly showing what competence looks like. Better range. Better instincts. Better baserunning. Better production. The Yankees, of course, keep calling him a “utility guy,” as if that label somehow disqualifies him from being the everyday shortstop. Newsflash: this team doesn’t need labels — it needs results.

I’ll even be generous and say Volpe’s shoulder likely impacted his defense. Fine. But his offensive issues predate the injury by years. His approach changes by the week: contact hitter today, launch-angle philosopher tomorrow. He spends weeks stepping in the bucket, wrecking his mechanics, and digging statistical holes he never fully climbs out of.

Caballero, meanwhile, has been the superior player by the numbers — elite defensive metrics, higher OBP, and real impact during the second half of 2025 while Volpe spiraled. And yet, we all know what’s coming: the moment Volpe is healthy, Caballero gets bumped, no matter how well he plays. That’s not competition. That’s favoritism disguised as “development.”

Plenty of fans are done with Volpe. I’m one of them.

To be fair, Joshua Diemert of SB Nation believes there’s still a version of Volpe who can be an above-average hitter — if he gets a real Triple-A run to fix his mechanics and his confidence. That’s a reasonable argument. But here’s the counter: why are the Yankees still operating on hope?

When players don’t perform, teams move on. They demote. They trade. They cut bait. For some reason, Volpe is untouchable — not because of production, but because of sunk cost and ego. The Yankees invested too much time selling this kid to admit they might be wrong.

Meanwhile, the facts are brutal: long stretches in 2025 with a .198 batting average and .255 OBP, declining defense, and zero payoff for the patience. Shoulder injury or not, the team still hasn’t won — and Volpe hasn’t justified the leash.

Since mid-2025, he’s been completely overmatched. Are we really supposed to believe everything fixes itself when he returns? Based on what? Blind faith?

For me, this experiment is over. We already have the upgrade standing right there.

His name is José Caballero.
Play him at shortstop.
And finally, mercifully — move on.