Brian Cashman & Co. have plenty of time to surprise and pull off major and minor moves.
But if the Yankees, whose largest transactions of the offseason thus far have been to bring back Trent Grisham and Ryan Yarbrough and who are trying to strike a deal with Cody Bellinger, return roughly the same set of characters from last season’s ALDS-losing club, hopes for improvement would largely come internally.
Which brings us to Anthony Volpe and the club’s shortstop position.
For several years, the club has felt Volpe — the 2019 first-round pick and one of the better prospects in the sport — has had more to offer than the below-average numbers on the back of his baseball card.
For several years, the team has insisted that it has faith in Volpe, who has not blossomed as hoped.
That faith publicly remains.
Manager Aaron Boone said he expects Volpe to “be a good player for us.” Cashman offered: “Do I believe in Anthony Volpe? The answer is yes.”
And yet this week at the Winter Meetings, the general manager also gently pried open a theoretical door toward a shortstop competition.
The Yankees do not expect Volpe, who underwent shoulder surgery to repair a partially torn labrum, back before May.
Barring a stunning upgrade such as Bo Bichette (a free agent), CJ Abrams or Corey Seager (subjects of trade talk), the natural in-house replacement is José Caballero, who impressed in 40 games after the trade deadline last season.
Yes, Boone and Cashman reiterated, their trust in Volpe remains.
And yet, Cashman also brought up Grisham — a player who entered 2025 as an afterthought and whose play demanded that he become an everyday option — when speaking about Caballero.
Caballero, who has stolen 93 bases the past two seasons and whose bat rose with the platform after the trade from the Rays (slashing .266/.372/.456 in pinstripes), could have a month-plus to assert himself.
“You can never predict somebody’s journey, somebody’s impact,” Cashman said in Orlando, Fla. “[Volpe and Caballero are] both quality players in their own right, but … I still believe everything that we felt about [Volpe] prior to his surgery, and I’m happy we have Cabby as well. So I have no idea where things will go.
“Hey, the game separates it all, the men from the boys. It dictates who should and who shouldn’t be playing over the course of time from the roster that the manager has. People continue to earn their playing time or they don’t. … If it’s competition off of guys on the club, may the best man win and keep it.”
Such a situation presupposes that Caballero would run with the shortstop job as Volpe recovers, so it is in the realm of the speculative.
But ever since Volpe beat Oswald Peraza for the job during spring training in 2023, the Yankees have not spoken about any kind of competition at shortstop.
Volpe, the native New Jerseyan who grew up idolizing Derek Jeter, was supposed to be the spiritual heir to his hero.
After that spring training star turn, he excelled defensively in 2023 and won a Gold Glove but struck out too much, batted just .209 and hit for surprising power (21 homers) as a rookie.
In his second year, he sacrificed some of that pop for contact, brought up his average (.243) but still finished with just about the same OPS. Last year, the adjustments continued and he tried again to swing with more authority. The same hitter using different approaches has posted .666, .657 and .663 OPSes, respectively.
“He’s got there a little bit of a different way each year, but the ultimate [goal] is, we got to get that number to go up, and there’s a lot of different ways to do that,” Boone said. “Whether it’s getting on base more or hitting for a higher average, whether it’s being more consistent on the power front. He’s got a lot of ability. He’s really talented. Some of his best moments have been in the most crucial time. I think of the ’24 postseason, where he was so good.
“So I do feel like it’s in there.”
Before the May 3 dive that hurt his shoulder last season, Volpe owned a .768 OPS in 33 games. His play, on both sides of the game, declined significantly before a September uptick that coincided with a second cortisone injection in that shoulder. It is possible that Volpe was ready to turn a corner before the health setback.
If Volpe wants to prove as much, his mission will be delayed. He is not expected to be able to swing until mid-February and likely will not be able to dive until mid-April.
Whenever he is ready, he likely will not be returning to the same kind of job security to which he had become accustomed.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
