Joel Sherman posits possible Anthony Volpe blueprint Yankees fans never thought of

Anthony Volpe probably won't be ready to return to action until June after undergoing shoulder surgery to repair a torn labrum. The injury was ostensibly suffered in early May, but the Yankees kept him on the field for 153 games despite the need for multiple cortisone shots. The result? His worst professional season to date, which is saying a lot given how underwhelming his first two were.

Much has been speculated about Volpe's future in the Bronx. Manager Aaron Boone has been grilled about the "leash" Volpe has upon his return, especially if Jose Caballero proves to have a positive impact while holding down shortstop during the youngster's absence. Boone did his best to avoid directly answering the question, to no surprise.

There is an alternative, however. The Yankees don't need to make this a competition of sorts that puts Volpe in the dog house if he's unable to perform after major surgery. Joel Sherman of the New York Post brought up another situation most of us haven't even considered:

"Volpe made the Yankees out of spring training in 2023 and has been with them ever since, which means he has exactly three years of service time.

"A player continues to accrue service time while on the major league injured list. But if Caballero is playing well, could the Yankees actually send Volpe to the minors upon his activation from the IL?

"Volpe currently would be a free agent after the 2028 season. But if he spends even 20 days in the minors, the earliest he could be a free agent is after the 2029 campaign. That matters to his salaries moving forward. It also could impact his trade value if the Yankees go that way because teams are always looking to have more control years when they obtain a player."

Yankees could push Anthony Volpe's free agency back with service time manipulation

If we were to guess, the odds of this happening are next to none. The Yankees probably cannot wait to get Volpe back into the mix, and there's a far better chance he immediately supplants Caballero once he's ready to return.

But now we guess this cannot be ruled out, especially given the nature of Volpe's injury. The Yankees have screwed up Volpe's development in more ways than one; first by allowing him to flounder at the plate for two full seasons without any recourse, and then letting him play through what ended up being a detrimental injury that undoubtedly affected his mechanics on both sides of the ball.

After watching his defense decline alongside a career .222 average, .662 OPS and 84 OPS+, the move might be to give him at least a month of work at Triple-A so he can get back up to speed. Launching him right back into action against MLB pitching feels like an ill-advised approach, especially after how we saw him perform vs. such competition when he was completely healthy.

At least 20 days in the minor leagues gives the Yankees another year of team control over Volpe (he'll be a free agent after 2029 instead of 2028) and will limit his salary increase in arbitration (at least from 2026 to 2027). Volpe's already making nearly $4 million in his first year of arb this season and many would agree he's not worth that amount heading into his age-25 season.

We can intepret this one of two ways. Sherman mentions it could improve his trade value considering how many teams covet team control, especially small and mid-market teams. Or ... the nightmare scenario in which the Yankees get another year of their marriage with Volpe as they attempt to rectify a situation that already feels broken beyond repair. Fans would not put that latter scenario past the Yankees, who have been dying to prove everybody wrong after pushing their chips to the middle of the table with the former first-round pick. So far, they've lost it all and are playing with borrowed money at this point as they continue to dig themselves out of an insurmountable hole.

And because it feels like it'll take a miracle to get any sort of worthwhile return for Volpe in a trade, we can't help but view this as a toxic alternative in which the Yankees will attempt to use such a tactic to their benefit with an additional year of control with Volpe.

The only hope, really, is that he returns in 2026 and puts up a solid few months of baseball. Only that will truly increase his trade value, and it will at least have everybody feeling better about the shortstop position moving forward.