Highly connected Yankees insider breaks silence with harsh Anthony Volpe truth

There's a reason that venerated New York Daily News scribe Bill Madden was the first person to put forth a genuine hint about Juan Soto's defection for the Mets during the Winter Meetings. He's been around the Steinbrenner Family forever. He has a direct communication channel to their dealings. He knew Hal's offer to Soto and his line in the sand. He knew when enough was enough, and he knew when he had a story to tell.

That's what makes Madden's opinion hold so much sway, even after he lost his permanent columnist position with the Daily News in 2015 and has become a freelance contributor in the later years of his career. If he's stating something, it's more than just an informed opinion. A kernel of it probably comes from deep within the Yankees organization.

On Sunday morning, Madden praised Brian Cashman for his efforts in fortifying the Yankees' roster — oozing with talent, not so fantastic at the finer points of baseball — with stars and gamers like Jazz Chisholm Jr., Ryan McMahon and Jose Caballero. He also took aim at the fly in the ointment, singling out Anthony Volpe's continued struggles, and calling out the "stubborn" support of the Yankees' third-year player, which has gummed up the mechanism this year.

Madden believes Volpe should be benched, and also believes that the efforts of certain Yankees personnel to sweep their shortstop's issues under the rug have been just as harmful as the player's difficult season.

Longtime Yankees insider Bill Madden, with channel to Steinbrenners, calls for Anthony Volpe benching

Now ... think about who he's talking to here, and think about who he's aligned with. Is it possible Steinbrenner is attempting to go public with his concerns regarding how Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman have handled his (for now) starting shortstop? It certainly doesn't seem implausible to think the cascading boos that come with every swung-over strike three are starting to incite panic upstairs.

For the good of the player, Volpe needs more than just a traditional breather. It's wild to watch a season unfold where he's uncorked 19 homers and 70 RBI and still been a clear disappointment/taken an obvious step back from even last season, when he also scuffled mightily.

Hopefully, Madden is breaking his silence here because someone with the authority to take action wants to spur the process on with an external spark.