Do New York Yankees fans really hate Anthony Volpe this much?
So the MLB non-tender deadline recently passed, and the New York Yankees ended up cutting ties with a handful of relief pitchers. For the most part, though, there were no surprises.
Well, at least for most level-headed Yankees fans.
New York tendered shortstop Anthony Volpe a contract, which was, you know, the normal thing to do considering that non-tendering him would have meant outright releasing him.
But for some reason, a bunch of Yankees fans were irate that Brian Cashman chose to make sure Volpe remainder under contract for 2026.
Perhaps these people simply don't understand what tendering a contract actually means. New York didn't sign Volpe to a massive extension. It didn't guarantee him anything long term. All the Yankees did was not release the 24-year-old.
Why is this such a big deal?
Again, unless you just don't understand the concept of the non-tender deadline, then you're being beyond ridiculous at this point.
The entire world knows that Volpe struggled this past season. He slashed .212/.272/.391 with 19 home runs and 72 RBI over 596 plate appearances, and his defense fell off a cliff.
However, people seem to be conveniently forgetting that Volpe played through most of 2025 with a torn labrum in his shoulder, which absolutely affected him.
Volpe suffered the injury in early May. That was after he registered a .784 OPS between March and April. He even managed a respectable .703 OPS in May before the injury worsened.
The hometown kid has undergone surgery to repair the issue and is expected to miss the start of 2026, but we should probably wait for him to get healthy before we write him off completely.
Prior to 2025, Volpe was an elite defender. He won a Gold Glove in 2023 and posted a plus-6 DRS and plus-14 OAA in 2024. Those numbers dipped tremendously this past year, but it's foolish to believe that his defensive decline was not a direct result of his injury.
Volpe owns a lifetime .662 over three big-league campaigns, so I'm not trying to defend his lack of offense as a whole. But he appeared to be on an upward trajectory before the shoulder injury occurred last spring, and considering he is under team control through 2028, it's only fair to give him another chance.
Plus, even if you want Volpe gone, you realize that the Yankees can trade him, right? No, Volpe does not carry the value of a Spencer Jones or a George Lombard Jr., but he absolutely has some worth and can definitely be included in a trade package somewhere.
Non-tendering him would have been the silliest thing the Yankees could have done, and the fact that there has been such a visceral reaction to them not doing so is ludicrous.