Hal Steinbrenner never specifically talked about prospects the way he talked about Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza in November of 2022.
“In my opinion, they’re going to get a shot,” Steinbrenner said. “In March, I remember saying that they’re the middle infield of the Yankees in the future. That’s why we made some decisions in the offseason, as opposed to going out and getting a huge free agent.”
At the time, the Yankees were coming off a humiliating ALCS loss, having been swept by the Astros in four games. A series in which Aaron Boone used video from the 2004 ALCS — the darkest moment in Yankees history — as a motivational tactic for his players following Game 3. The Yankees stepped up by blowing an early three-run lead and a late one-run lead in Game 4 and their season ended the same way for the 13th straight season: without a championship.
Prior to the 2022 season, the Yankees decided to sit out the deepest free-agent shortstop class in the history of the sport. Instead, the Yankees went after Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who had been traded by the Rangers to the Twins. The Rangers chose to give a half billion dollars to Corey Seager and Marcus Semien rather than roster and play the inexpensive Kiner-Falefa. The Twins didn’t really want him, but knew the Yankees desperately did and were able to get the Yankees to take on the $51.5 million owed to Josh Donaldson to get Kiner-Falefa. Using the money recouped from getting rid of Donaldson, the Twins turned around and signed Carlos Correa.
When Kiner-Falefa proved incapable of fielding the position (and hitting), the Yankees turned to Oswaldo Cabrera to play shortstop in the postseason. When Cabrera was needed in left field in the playoffs, the Yankees turned to Peraza. While the Yankees named a different starting shortstop each game during the 2022 playoffs (because that’s a strong, proven recipe for winning), Volpe watched the games from the stands, like a fan.
Steinbrenner said what he said a month after the loss to the Astros because he needed the fans to be excited about something for 2023, and Kiner-Falefa, Donaldson, Harrison Bader and Frankie Montas weren’t moving the needle. The Yankees needed to give the fans something for 2023 other than having Boone tell the media anyone who didn’t think Donaldson could still hit was “crazy.” (In two seasons with the Yankees, Donaldson posted a .678 OPS in the regular season and went 5-for-29 with 16 strikeouts in the postseason. He was released by the Yankees with a month left in the same season Boone called fans “crazy” for not believing in him.)
In spring training 2023, Volpe went off, hitting .309/.415/.618 in 64 plate appearances. It didn’t matter the quality of pitcher he faced in those 19 games, a 1.033 OPS against a combination of career minor-league pitchers and major-league pitchers working on their stuff before the season was enough for him to be named the 2023 Opening Day shortstop.
Volpe posted a .666 OPS in 601 plate appearances in 2023. After a disappointing offensive rookie year, Cashman appeared unhinged at the General Meetings that November when he had the memorable exchange with Joel Sherman in which he called his 2023 roster that went 82-80, missed the postseason and provided the worst Yankees’ regular-season record in 30 years “really fucking good.” He also defended Volpe (and the rest of the Yankees’ failed young players) to no end.
“I look forward to you telling me when Volpe crushes it offensively this year for us,” Cashman said to Sherman. “Then you’ll say, ‘Hey man, I guess your development program did a good job and it was just sea legs under him his first maiden voyage year with not much Triple-A under his belt.'”
It was Cashman’s fault Volpe was made a major leaguer after 22 Triple-A games. But Sherman didn’t have to apologize to Cashman after 2024 because Volpe showed no progress in his second season, posting a .657 OPS and a clear defensive regression.
Things didn’t get better in 2025. Volpe had a .663 OPS and an 82 OPS+ and displayed the worst defense of his three-year career. The Yankees acquired Jose Caballero at the trade deadline to compete with Volpe for the starting shortstop position — the first time in three years Volpe’s job was even somewhat threatened. But when Caballero produced an .845 OPS in September with better defense and a superior arm to Volpe’s .534 OPS, shaky defense and weak arm, it didn’t matter. It was Volpe starting at shortstop in all seven of the Yankees’ postseason games. With the Yankees facing elimination in Game 4 of the ALDS and boos raining down on Volpe after each failed at-bat, Boone finally removed him from the game in the ninth inning for a pinch hitter (Jasson Dominguez, who doubled off the wall in his first plate appearance in weeks) to prevent Volpe from being exposed to more fan vitriol. Volpe finished the ALDS 1-for-15 with 11 strikeouts.
Volpe had experienced a shoulder issue during 2025 when he said he felt a “pop” in his shoulder after diving for a ball in the Yankees’ May 3 game against the Rays last season. Volpe remained in the game and then was sent for X-rays and an MRI, all of which came back as “good news,” Boone said at the time. Volpe was held out of the lineup the next day, but the day after that he went right back to being the Yankees’ everyday shortstop.
After the season, he underwent surgery to fix the issue that didn’t appear on any imaging after it happened. The Yankees used this to their advantage in explaining why Volpe hadn’t gotten any better in three years in the majors. With a timeline that would keep him out for the first month of the season, without saying the exact words, Boone made it clear Volpe would be the team’s starting shortstop following his rehab.
The problem with Boone turning the job back over to the organization’s Golden Boy was that the Yankees were winning without him and Caballero was playing exceptional defense and doing enough offensively. It would be hard for the front office to explain to the clubhouse and the fans why Caballero was being removed from a role he was excelling at while the Yankees were piling up wins. The Yankees did the only thing they could do once Volpe’s Triple-A rehab assignment was up and assigned him to Triple-A.
Volpe had been treated like only Aaron Judge, Juan Soto and Cody Bellinger had been during his three seasons in the majors, seemingly immune to days off. A lack of days off for the other three made sense, but Volpe got to play every day like he was actually the second coming of Derek Jeter. He was never benched. The only time he was threatened with a loss of playing time was when the Yankees acquired Caballero, and even when Caballero greatly won the head-to-head battle, the Yankees still went with Volpe. This was the first time the Yankees had handled Volpe appropriately and you couldn’t find a Yankees fan who wasn’t ecstatic with the move.
It didn’t last long. Volpe couldn’t hit Triple-A pitching, just like he couldn’t hit major-league pitching, but when Caballero dove back to first on a pickoff attempt, hurt his finger and landed on the injured list, Volpe got an undeserving call-up. After a couple of “good” initial weeks against five straight opponents that won’t make the playoffs (Orioles, Mets, Blue Jays, Royals and Athletics), the Yankees had seen enough, and Volpe took the job back from Caballero, despite Boone saying Caballero would be the starting shortstop upon his activation from the IL. For the next two months, Volpe provided the same offensive and defensive performances he had given the past three years. He hit one home run in 194 plate appearances, posted a .646 OPS (the lowest of his career) and an 82 OPS+, right in line with his career 83 OPS+, all while booting routine ground balls and making throws look like he was throwing a weighted ball.
Finally, on Tuesday, after 2,080 regular-season plate appearances that combined for a .680 OPS and some of the worst defensive footwork and maybe the worst major-league shortstop arm you’ll ever see, the Yankees sent Volpe down to Triple-A. In his place comes George Lombard Jr., the one “untouchable” Yankees prospect, who represents the same promise Volpe once did: a long-term answer at shortstop. The difference between the two is obvious in their defense. Offensively, Lombard Jr. has played more minor-league games than Volpe and has raked at the higher minor-league levels in a way Volpe didn’t.
The Yankees were so desperate for Volpe to be Jeter they made him the shortstop based on less than three weeks of spring training games, and two weeks into his career had him batting leadoff. They treated him in a way they have never treated any other prospect or player. Cashman lost it on the media in 2023 over him. Boone called him “fucking elite” to Meredith Marakovits in July 2025 despite every metric on both sides of the ball suggesting he wasn’t elite at any part of baseball. He doesn’t hit for power or average. He has no arm strength and questionable defense and lost his basestealing abilities along the way. Volpe possesses none of the five tools of the game and yet he was given more run and more plate appearances with such little production than any player in history.
The same mistake can’t be made with Lombard Jr. He has proven he will hit at every level, it just doesn’t happen overnight. At every new level in the minors, Lombard Jr. experienced a learning curve offensively before finally figuring it out, and now he’s making the leap from a level where J.C. Escarra has a .987 OPS to a level where Escarra has a .510 OPS. He’s shouldn’t be counted on to change the Yankees offensively. He’s going to provide a level of defense that your eyes will feel like they did going from standard-definition TV to high-definition TV, and he will figure it out offensively along the way. He should bat ninth every game, like Jeter did, no matter what hand the pitcher throws with. Leave him there and let him learn.
Tuesday night begins a new era in the Bronx and the best thing Lombard Jr. has going for him is he isn’t Volpe. He doesn’t represent the arrogance of the Cashman/Boone Yankees, a tandem that has acted like they are smarter than everyone and has acted like they have won together. He represents change at a time when the Yankees are enduring their annual midseason collapse, can’t overcome their deficit to the Rays and have watched their 15-game lead over the Red Sox in the loss column fall to just one game.
Lombard Jr. may not be “fucking elite” yet, but he shouldn’t be told he is either. He should be treated like every prospect not named Anthony Volpe has been treated during Cashman’s tenure as GM. If the Yankees are right this time about their shortstop of the future, they won’t have to worry about who is starting there every game for a long, long time.
Last modified: Aug 4, 2026
