Aaron Boone's Anthony Volpe update confirms what Yankees fans wanted over a year ago

It sure would've been awkward to see Anthony Volpe in the New York Yankees' dugout on Tuesday night as George Lombard Jr. electrified Yankee Stadium with his historic debut. Volpe's fake excited face would've been painful to witness. Luckily, the Yankees organization spared us all that uncomfortable experience by optioning Volpe to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Monday night.

Hours following Volpe's demotion, we learned from Yankees manager Aaron Boone that Volpe will play not only shortstop in the minors, but also second base! It's a decision that Boone says should help the Yankees in the present and the future.

Anthony Volpe is back at Triple A, where he'll play some second base

It only took one game with Lombard at the starting shortstop spot for Yankees fans to feel a massive difference. Lombard is a far superior defender to Volpe, and he had his athleticism, arm strength, and overall smoothness on display with multiple plays on Tuesday night in the Bronx (and again on Wednesday in a less memorable loss).

Amid all of the excitement surrounding Lombard's debut, there's surely a Volpe-themed undercurrent of thoughts shared by Yankees observers who can't believe the team persisted with their incumbent shortstop for so long. Sure, promoting Lombard earlier than Tuesday would've been reckless, but so, too, was continuing to invest any belief in Volpe as a shortstop, especially with José Caballero on the Yankees over the last calendar year.

Why didn't the Yankees make this move a year ago?

The Yankees waited until it was beyond obvious to even casual fans that demoting Volpe and having him take reps at other positions was the best path forward. When rumors emerged a month or so ago that the Yankees had possibly asked Volpe to play non-shortstop positions in the minors, Yankees supporters were happy, but word leaked that Volpe had declined. Fans raged. Then, the rumors were debunked. If the Yankees requested that Volpe play anything other than shortstop, he never refused.

He never played anywhere else, but he never refused to.

Who knows the sort of positive returns that could've been gleaned from shoving full support behind Caballero at shortstop last season, when Volpe was injured and continuing to disappoint? We've seen Caballero thrive at times in 2026, particularly before Volpe was back in the picture. Sure, Caballero can play almost anywhere defensively, but you can't ignore that giving a player an everyday position and showing confidence in him might allow him to relax and settle into his role.

It took the Yankees way, way too long to fully accept that Volpe just wasn't good enough to be the starting shortstop of this team (or any team eyeing contention, for that matter). The evidence was staring the Yankees in the face for multiple years. He's been on a decline since his rookie season offensively and since Year 2 defensively (and, let's be honest, the offense was never good enough).

This doesn't mean that Volpe's career as an MLB player can't be salvaged. He just needs a new identity and role, particularly if he ends up staying in the Yankees organization. Who knows? Maybe he'll end up playing second base alongside Lombard for years to come. There's no doubt the Yankees' leadership still believes in Volpe as a baseball player. It would be downright shocking if they didn't keep giving him chances.

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