All things considered, it was a solid year for the Yankees even if it didn’t live up to the perennial World-Series-or-bust expectations of their fans. Despite Gerrit Cole not throwing a single pitch for the team this year and Juan Soto signing elsewhere last winter, they managed to win 94 games thanks to a few key additions like Max Fried and Cody Bellinger, big steps forward from Ben Rice and Trent Grisham, and another MVP-caliber campaign from Aaron Judge.
Not everything went right for the Yankees this year, however, and that’s even ignoring the outcome of the postseason. Some young players who looked like key pieces of the organization’s future this time last year took steps backwards in 2025. While that’s true of Austin Wells and Luis Gil, there’s no player who better exemplifies this than shortstop Anthony Volpe. Volpe was once a consensus top-15 prospect in the sport and even won the Gold Glove in his rookie season with the Yankees, but he’s never quite been able to muster even a league average slash line at the plate.
An 87 wRC+ last year was enough to make him a three-to-four win player thanks to his stellar defense. But this season, the wheels came off. The biggest reason for that is the decline of Volpe’s glove. After being one of the best defenders in all of baseball last year with +14 Outs Above Average, he flipped the script entirely and put up one of the worst performances of any defender in the sport with an OAA of -7.
That’s the sort of defense that might not cut it for a strong bat at the infield’s most important defensive position, so it certainly wasn’t cutting it while Volpe hit a paltry .212/.272/.391 (83 wRC+) in 153 games this year. Some of that can be attributed to poor fortune on batted balls, as his BABIP dropped 50 points relative to the year prior despite a career-high barrel rate of 10.5%. That’s not the whole story, however, as he also hit the fewest line drives of his career this year (15.4%) and struck out at an elevated 25.2% clip. Even his baserunning took a step back, as he went just 18-for-26 on the basepaths after stealing 28 bases in 35 last year.
It’s possible that a partial labrum tear that Volpe spent most of the season playing through is to blame for at least some of his struggles this season. He had a .237/.328/.456 slash and 119 wRC+ through the end of April, just a few days before injuring his shoulder. He hit .205/.255/.374 for a 74 wRC+ from the start of May onwards. He underwent surgery to repair that shoulder but will start 2026 on the injured list.
That might make it seem obvious that the Yankees should either move on from Volpe entirely or at least bring in a player who can handle the majority of shortstop duties while Volpe slips into a smaller role. Things aren’t likely to be that simple, however, in large part due to the weakness of the coming class of shortstops. The prize of this class is Bo Bichette, but he comes with defensive concerns of his own and has long been viewed as a player who would profile better at either second or third base.
The pickings are quite slim outside of Bichette when it comes to shortstops, however. Ha-Seong Kim might opt out of his contract with Atlanta, but he’s coming off an even more difficult season than Volpe. Trevor Story might be a modest upgrade, but he offers limited upside headed into his age-33 season and might not opt out of his contract with the Red Sox. The trade market might feature CJ Abrams but his defense is questionable enough that he may not stick at that spot for much longer. Without another replacement who would be a clear upgrade over Volpe, the Yankees may be forced to choose between either shelling out for a defensively-flawed solution in Bichette or sticking with their internal options.
Those internal options don’t necessarily have to lead to Volpe starting the majority of the Yankees’ games at shortstop next year, though that might be the most likely outcome. Jose Caballero will be back next season and earned plenty of fans in the Bronx for his work on both sides of the ball in 40 games down the stretch. Perhaps he could share time with Volpe at shortstop in the early part of 2026, with the possibility of top-100 prospect George Lombard Jr. stepping up later in the season. Lombard spent most of 2025 at Double-A, so a debut in 2026 isn’t entirely unrealistic. However, he also hit just .215/.337/.358 at the level, suggesting he might need more time to develop before arriving in the show.
How do MLBTR readers view New York’s shortstop situation? Will Volpe be the solution at the position next year? Will they bring in a free agent or trade for someone to handle things? Or will an internal candidate like Caballero or Lombard take the job from Volpe by the end of next year? Have your say in the poll below:
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