Anthony Volpe has been Wally Pipped. Sunday evening the Yankees announced Volpe, who is coming off shoulder surgery, has been activated off the injured list and optioned to Triple-A Scranton. Sunday was the final day of Volpe’s 20-day rehab window. He had to be activated and either put on the MLB roster or sent to the minors, and the Yankees went with the latter. I didn’t think they’d actually do it, but they did.
"(José Caballero has) played himself into and earned himself more playing time,” Aaron Boone said prior to Sunday’s win, before Volpe was activated/optioned. “I love the idea of José being in that kind of super utility role because he's so good at it. But you also can't ignore that he's played so well defensively at shortstop, been a real spark for us offensively, especially after kind of getting off to a slow start probably the first 10 days, two weeks of the season. He's really picked that up and been in the middle of us winning games. At the end of the day, we're going to try and do what's best for our team and then individual players that we care about too and know that are going to be important contributors to our team. We weigh all that."
Sunday’s 1-for-4 with a steal gives Caballero a .259/.306/.405 (99 wRC+) slash line with an AL-leading 13 stolen bases. Since a 6-for-40 (.150) start, Caballero is 24-for-76 (.316) in his last 21 games. He also ranks third among all players with +7 DRS behind Pete Crow-Armstrong (+10) and Cole Young (+9). My eyes agree with Caballero’s +1 OAA more than the +7 DRS, but he’s been a plus in the field.
Did Caballero blow everyone away and steal the shortstop job from Volpe? No, not really, but he played well and the Yankees have been the AL’s best team by a mile in the early going. Why would you mess with something that’s working? The Yankees aren’t. Volpe is very well-liked in the clubhouse, but I’m not sure giving him the shortstop job no questions asked sends the best message to a team that is really clicking.
On April 10th, Brian Cashman said it was “always the plan” to plug Volpe back at shortstop. Not even a full month ago. Something changed and I’m not sure what. Probably a lot of things. Caballero has played well, especially lately. The Yankees are winning and there’s no reason to change the roster or lineup. Maybe there were signs Volpe wasn’t ready yet during his rehab assignment. Under-the-hood stuff (swing decisions, contact quality, etc.).
Volpe hit .250/.316/.318 during his 13-game rehab assignment and I wouldn’t read much into that. It’s a rehab assignment. Spring Training, basically. More relevant for Volpe is the fact he was one of the worst hitters in baseball from 2023-25 (min. 1,500 plate appearances) …
AVG: .222 (103rd out of 103 hitters)
OBP: .283 (103rd)
SLG: 379 (100th)
wRC+: 85 (101st)
… and there’s almost no level of defense and baserunning that makes up for that. The Yankees passed on all those free agent shortstops a few years ago and put all their eggs in the Volpe basket. He was the Golden Child and they doubled and tripled down on him. It was a losing bet. Volpe just turned 25 and has time to change the narrative, but, right now, Caballero gives the Yankees the best chance to win, so he’ll play.
This is the surest sign the Yankees are operating with more urgency this season than they have in some time. Volpe and his $3.475M arbitration salary are in Scranton. So is Luis Gil, the AL Rookie of the Year two seasons ago, and his $2.1625M salary. Oswaldo Cabrera and Jasson Domínguez started the year in Scranton after being in the Opening Day lineup last year. The Yankees lost the AL East title and a Wild Card Series bye on a tiebreaker last year and they're not screwing around this year.
20 days in the minors (rehab doesn’t count) will give the Yankees an extra year of control over Volpe. On one hand, he’s probably not good enough to manipulate service time*. On the other hand, it could make him more appealing to potential trade partners. I’m certain the Yankees want Volpe to figure things out and rejoin the lineup short and long-term. He’ll have to earn his way back up though.
* It’s not service time manipulation if the demotion is deserved, and I again refer you to Volpe’s status as one of the worst hitters in baseball from 2023-25.
I would like the Yankees to give Volpe time at second base in Scranton since it seems like that might be his long-term position given his arm. George Lombard Jr. is in Triple-A too. Players share positions in the minors. I wouldn’t turn Lombard into a full-time third baseman to accommodate Volpe. Volpe should play second and short, and Lombard should play short and third (his arm is way better than Volpe’s).
The Yankees chose Caballero over Volpe and Max Schuemann makes more sense as a bench guy given his versatility. He’s an actual bench player. Volpe has only played shortstop in his career and Caballero has only played short this year, Spring Training included. He’s moved around plenty throughout his career, but he hasn’t done it this year. The best, most functional roster has Caballero and Schuemann, not Volpe.
The best time to send Volpe down was August 2023, when the Yankees were fading out of the race and it was becoming clear he was overmatched. The next best time is right now. The Yankees are winning and Volpe can reset, maybe figure out who he is as a hitter (no one seems to know), and work his way back to the Bronx and into the long-term plans. For now, the Yankees are simply a better team without him.