The New York Yankees bet big on their youngsters when they passed on the generational free agent shortstop class of 2021-2022. The move was controversial at the time, with the market littered with superstars and solid starters behind them, but the club was betting that one of their two youngsters, Anthony Volpe or Oswald Peraza, would step in and fill the shoes of franchise icon Derek Jeter.
The merit of that decision is decision is still debatable, even with the benefit of hindsight. If the Yankees had chosen wrong - for example, going all in on stars such as Carlos Correa or Trevor Story, who have since seen their careers marred by injuries and ineffectiveness - it would be seen as a huge blunder
On the flipside, imagine what a boon it would have been to have Corey Seager joining forces with Aaron Judge in the Yankee lineup.
Instead, the club bet on the youngsters and, more specifically, gave the inside track to Volpe; their mismanagement of Peraza has led to a tremendous flameout.
Meanwhile, we are now in the third year of the Anthony Volpe experience, and have been left with many of the same questions that we had three years ago when the 24-year-old was anointed the next great Yankee.
Three years is a long time, and with so much still unresolved, it's logical for questions to begin to brew. Chief among them is when is it time to pull the plug on this experiment? An impending free agent from a division rival may bring the conundrum to a head when he hits the open market this offseason.
The Yankees must strongly consider replacing Anthony Volpe with Toronto Blue Jays star Bo Bichette in free agency
First, let's be fair to Anthony Volpe. Despite often being the target of Yankee fans' ire, Volpe, for the most part, has been a slightly above-average regular at shortstop by the numbers. While the Yankee machine hyped him up to be much more, being an average starter is a perfectly acceptable outcome for a top prospect.
The crux of the matter with Volpe is that there hasn't been much in the way of improvement, and things that we were told he did well sometimes aren't being displayed on the diamond. This is a player who was touted for having killer instincts and a high baseball IQ, which is why plays like this one leave you scratching your head as they become an all-too-frequent occurrence.
The numbers look fine. Through June 25, Volpe owns a 102 wRC+, has posted two defensive runs saved in 674.2 innings at shortstop, and owns a perfectly respectable 1.3 fWAR through this point in the season. The problem is, there's been no sustained improvement since his rookie year.
As a team with perennial championship aspirations, the Yankees need more, and a star from the Yankees' North-of-the-border rival might want out once he hits free agency at season's end, despite his proclamations to the contrary.
That star, 27-year-old Bo Bichette, might not have the same luster that the Correas and Seagers of the world did when the hit free agency a few years back. However, the son of long-time Colorado Rockies slugger Dante Bichette represents a clear chance for the Yankees to upgrade over their former wunderkind.
While his 2024 season was a forgettable struggle, the two-time All-Star has shown tremendous ability with the bat, and enough defensive chops to get the job done. He owns a career .288/.330/.463 line showcasing both contact and power skills, with three years with 20+ homers under his belt, including a career-high 29 in 2021.
In all transparency, Volpe's glove work has been better than the -6 DRS performance Bichette has put up this year, but with the veteran capable of consistently making the routine plays and avoiding the mental gaffes that sometimes plague Volpe, the difference isn't as stark as it appears.
Bichette's .276/.317/.436 line is far superior to Volpe's .230/.304/.418 performance, and fans will enjoy not watching Bichette swing through high fastballs (15.8% K-rate) as Volpe is wont to do (25.6% K-rate).
At the end of the day, Bichette would give the Yankees a much higher floor with the same superstar ceiling. He'd cost more in terms of cash than Volpe, who becomes arbitration eligible for the first time after this season, but after years of no significant improvement, the cost is warranted to secure a player who can be part of a championship core.
Anthony Volpe might be a fine player, but in comparison, he doesn't make the impact the Yankees need.
