Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone's goofy Anthony Volpe quote clash flipped Yankees' script

For nearly the entirety of his league-worst 2025 season, Yankees manager Aaron Boone was accused of protecting and insulating his star pupil, shortstop Anthony Volpe, even as things excessively spiraled. But, after the Yankees' dueling postmortem press conferences on Thursday, it's more unclear than ever who was truly protecting Volpe as he submerged.

News dropped on Wednesday that Volpe had already undergone surgery to repair a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder, and Boone confirmed on Thursday that the timeline will take him out of big-league action until late April or May. At the point of his return, he'll be "in the mix" for the starting shortstop job (and will likely reclaim it, knowing the way the Yankees operate).

Volpe hit .237 with a .784 OPS in March/April before a headlong dive popped his shoulder out of place in early May. From that point forward, his performance was pitiful, including a new degree of tentativeness on defense that was hard to ascribe to anything other than a mental slide.

All season long, Boone insisted Volpe's soreness wasn't affecting his play, though, and doubled down on that assessment Thursday. Essentially, Volpe's "protector" Boone was saying for the world to hear that he believed his shortstop's mighty struggles were simply representative of his true talent level. Not very kind.

Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman give opposite answers on Yankees' Anthony Volpe problem

Of course, this press conference only got more embarrassing as it continued.

Further underscoring his aggrieved point that he doesn't dictate anything to Aaron Boone, Brian Cashman stepped to the mic and proved that their disconnect trickles all the way down to sworn statements.

Minutes after Boone again tried to downplay how much Volpe's injured shoulder affected his 2025 struggles, Cashman acknowledged reality. If they can't agree on the obvious company line, how can they agree on a leadoff hitter?

"I personally think now, and (I'll) start leaning more into yes, it was affecting him," Cashman rebutted, "because he had to have a surgery. None of that was really on the table in-season. I think all things can be true."

All things can be true for Volpe's development, too. He should be a better hitter by Year 3 based on his prospect pedigree, with or without a compromised shoulder. The shoulder also clearly compromised him, and anyone who's still arguing otherwise is probably on the Yankees' payroll and consulting Boone daily.

A healthy and fresh start might do wonders for Volpe. Unfortunately, because the Yankees delayed the inevitable and couldn't get their story straight, that won't come until midseason in 2026 — and, given how poisoned the fan base is against Volpe at the moment, it might not come in this uniform, either.