The shortstop position has been a contentious one for New York the past few seasons. Anthony Volpe was brought up as the successor to Gleyber Torres at the position after shooting through the upper minors and becoming one of the Yankees’ most highly rated prospects of the Baby Bomber era, and while his defense brought in good value until last season his bat has been suspect in the majors since his debut. Last year’s injury-derailed campaign brought with it the first shift from the organization’s stalwart defense of Volpe’s future as their shortstop, seeing them trade for Jose Caballero at the deadline as a utility weapon but eventually having him takeover in September when Volpe clearly needed to sit and recover.
Fast forward to the start of spring training, and Volpe is still sidelined for a bit as he rehabs from his shoulder surgery meaning Caballero is penciled in as the starting shortstop on Opening Day. The 29-year-old saw a surge in his offensive production in the second half with the Yankees, hitting for a 134 wRC+ compared to the 84 mark he had in Tampa Bay, and he now has the opportunity to open the season with around a month or more of uncontested starting time. On top of that, there’s been musings of Volpe potentially starting the year in Triple-A once he is healthy to work on his issues in the batter’s box. With all of that in mind, how realistic is it that Caballero could take over the starting spot for the entire season?
Caballero’s explosion at the plate last year was a major aberration from his career trends, where he was right at league-average in 2023 with the Mariners and slightly below-average in ‘24 with the Rays. It’s possible he unlocked something once he got in the lab with the Yankee coaching staff, but even if he did it’s more likely that he regresses back towards the median in terms of production. Still, if he can manage to stay above average with dependable enough defense, that might be enough to sway the Yankee brass — after all, Volpe himself has never posted even a 90 wRC+ over a full season. It would take several dominoes to fall in order to line up, but the possibility is there. Do you see a world where Caballero takes the spotlight away from the one-time top prospect, whether that’s getting the lion’s share of starts or outright getting named the starter?
Today on the site, we have Jeff leading off with a salute to Joe Gordon and his championship days with the Yankees that eventually landed him in Cooperstown as his birthday arrives. Then, Andrés previews Max Fried’s upcoming year entering his second season in pinstripes and Sam looks back to the signing of Carlos Rodón and the ups and downs of his Yankees career thus far for our free agent signing series.
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