Yankees insider makes Anthony Volpe assumption that could determine his fate

Remember when Aaron Boone told reporters that Anthony Volpe would start taking reps at second base upon his return from injury? The Yankees manager spoke as if it were something that was somewhat necessary to ensure the young infielder more playing time with the big league roster.

That was about six weeks ago. Ever since, Volpe has not done that. He never saw a rep anywhere else besides shortstop. This was either a bold-faced lie to appease fans who believed Jose Caballero should be the primary shortstop until proven otherwise or ... Volpe declined the request.

To be honest with you, most of us have sat here believing the former. The Yankees were just trying to shut fans up and move on without much hoopla. But Yankees insider Joel Sherman just opened up a can of worms in his latest rant on the Pinstripe Post podcast.

Sherman's been all over the Volpe saga over the last few months. He was the one who said the Yankees were going to option him to Triple-A after his rehab assignment when nobody believed it. He was the one who speculated Volpe has until the trade deadline to shape up.

And now he's saying, "I don't think Volpe wanted to play other positions at Triple-A when given that choice," suggesting the Yankees presented it as a proposition rather than a demand.

Could Yankee give Anthony Volpe an ultimatum to remain on the Yankees' active roster?

Sherman also suggests there's a chance Volpe gets optioned back to Triple-A when the Yankees get closer to full strength. They're missing a ton of players right now, so there's much less of a concern about the playing time distribution.

That said ... Boone is throwing Caballero all over the diamond in such an aggressive manner that it's backfired. Caballero is not an outfielder. Sure, he can play the position in a pinch, but he is not somebody who should be appearing in multiple games per week out there. You have to assume that such constant movement could be affecting his offense, too.

He's also the better shortstop option than Volpe (which isn't saying much). So for anybody out there citing the similar WAR numbers between Volpe and Caballero, don't forget that's a product of Caballero's life getting upended so the Yankees could accommodate a worse player. Caballero was removed from his position of comfort (and has seen scattered playing time in the infield overall) in favor of a guy who hits .220 with a .660 OPS for his career.

Caballero is not the long-term answer at shortstop. He's probably not even the answer if this team wants to make a World Series run in 2026. But you know what? We know Volpe is 1000% NOT the answer, and Sherman emphasized that with this commentary.

Think about it. You have someone like Caballero, who is more accomplished than Volpe, telling the Yankees he'll play wherever he's needed to help the team win. On the flip side, if Sherman's assumption is true, you have Volpe, who has been one of the worst qualified starters in the league since he debuted in 2023, telling the Yankees he will not move off shortstop, thus implying he will not do whatever it takes to help the team win.

The Yankees were the ones that told us they ran it back in 2026 because they believed in last year's roster more than any other during the Boone era. Are they really going to jeopardize that because they are going to let someone with a career 84 OPS+ dictate how he'll be handled moving forward?

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