Anthony Volpe's grip on Yankees' shortstop job not as secure
Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone didn’t quite have their verbal ducks in a row Thursday when discussing the impact Anthony Volpe’s bum left shoulder had on his disappointing 2025 season.
Cashman thought Volpe, who underwent surgery on Tuesday to repair a labrum tear in the shoulder, clearly was a compromised player for much of the season.
Boone felt differently.
But the pair’s messaging synced up a bit more when it came to guaranteeing that Volpe, three years into his big-league career but still only 24 years old, will be the Yankees’ starting shortstop in 2026 (after he returns from the injured list, where he will begin the season for at least the first couple of weeks while recovering from the surgery).
“He’s right in the mix to do that,” Boone said.
The key words there are “in the mix” rather than something like “yes, absolutely,” which would echo how that question was answered the two previous offseasons.
Said Cashman: “I think so. I believe in the player still. I think we believe in the player. It doesn’t mean that we don’t play with, on any level [the trade market, free agency, etc.], all aspects of roster assessments.”
It is important to note that neither Cashman nor Boone said the Yankees will actively look to upgrade the position this offseason.
But there was an acknowledgment of the obvious: That Volpe did not have the kind of season he or the Yankees expected him to have in 2025.
Volpe had his worst overall professional season, hitting .212 with 19 homers and a .663 OPS in 153 games. A Gold Glove winner at shortstop his rookie year in ’23 and good there again in ‘24, Volpe went backward in the field this year, committing an American League-leading 19 errors.
Though not speaking concretely regarding Volpe’s starting job, which will be occupied by someone else to start 2026 — likely Jose Caballero or perhaps Oswaldo Cabrera — both Cashman and Boone, in recognizing the struggles of the young shortstop, expressed continued belief.
“He’s 24 years old,” Cashman said. “I don’t think the New York stage is too big for him, he’s just still finding his way . . . He didn’t have the season that we expected, that he expected, that we believe he’s capable of.”
Cashman made it clear several times on Thursday that he thinks Volpe’s shoulder, which he injured diving for a ball May 3 against the Rays, played a significant role in his struggles. Volpe twice — during the All-Star break and again in early September — received a cortisone injection in the shoulder.
“I personally think now . . . that, yes, it was affecting him because ultimately he had to have a surgery,” Cashman said. “None of that was really on the table in-season. But I think all things can be true. Was it bothering him to a level that was getting to a height of concern for us? In-season, the answer is no. Why’s that? The player said it wasn’t bothering him at that point [and] his physical testing was coming back strong.”
Boone earlier said he does not believe the Yankees sent a compromised player onto the field, though there’s some gray area in that, too. As Cashman said, Volpe — known among his teammates as one of the tougher, non-complaining players when it comes to talking about ailments — kept the level of discomfort he was dealing with to himself.
“It really, most days, was not impacting him in any way,” Boone said. “There were a couple of incidents in the course of the year . . . that aggravated it, whether he was diving on it or something. But for the most part, he was in a good spot.”
Regardless, Boone said, there needs to be more consistency, especially with the bat.
“I think it’s really important to note how well he played on defense the final six, eight weeks of the season, very much in line with who he’s been in the three years that he’s been our shortstop,” Boone said. “So the defense, I feel like, really returned to the level that we’ve come to know after going through some tough moments there in the middle of the season . . . For him to become that front-line shortstop, [the offense has] got to improve. He understands that. We understand that. Hopefully he has that opportunity to continue to do that.”
Erik Boland started in Newsday's sports department in 2002. He covered high school and college sports, then shifted to the Jets beat. He has covered the Yankees since 2009.
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