During the 2025 season, Yankees GM Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone put all their faith in Anthony Volpe, but he did not give the results they were looking for. Even during Spring Training, Cashman said that Volpe was going to get into the roster when he comes back. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case after the season has started.

It was reported on May 3 that Anthony Volpe was optioned to the minors. Chris Kirschner, who covers the Yankees for The Athletic, said, “Optioning Volpe is perhaps the strongest move yet that the 2026 Yankees are acting with more urgency than I can remember in recent years.”

The Yankees had to make a forced call on Anthony Volpe after the rehab window closed. MLB rules say that the team has to either activate or option the player after a 20-day rehab limit. And the Yankees have decided to option Volpe to the minors.

And for now it was the right move from the Yankees, Volpe hit .250 across, going 11 for 44 during his rehab games. Are those numbers good? Yes, but not for a player who is looking to get into the Yankees roster.

And to bring him back into the team, when they have Jose Caballero in the team, doesn’t make any sense. Caballero in 2026 has an average of .259 with 4 homers and 12 RBIs. He also has a WAR of 1.3, which is just behind the 1.6 WAR Volpe posted in the 2025 season.

With Aaron Boone saying that Caballero has “earned himself more playing time,” putting the team chemistry at risk was not going to be worth it. And this was a bit of a hit for Boone and Cashman, who backed Volpe through everything during the 2025 season.

After the 2025 season ended, it was reported that Volpe had a shoulder problem and would have to get surgery, which is what took him out of the roster. But even before that, there was nothing Volpe did that would have tipped the scales in his favor.

Anthony Volpe was one of the worst Yankees players in 2025. He finished the season with an average of .212 with 19 homers and 72 RBIs. This was never going to be enough for an everyday starter for the Yankees. Forget his bat, Volpe struggled defensively as well, with 19 errors and a .963 fielding percentage.

After that season, some of the fans even wanted Volpe to be traded away, and there were even links with Cory Seager.

But this season, the mentality with which the New York Yankees are playing is looking different. They are not tolerating mediocrity, and nobody is safe. They did the same with Luis Gil. Gil started the season with an ERA of 6.05 and was not able to go deep into his games, and the Yankees showed no mercy in optioning him.

That is exactly what they have done with Volpe, too. And this shows the urgency to go win a championship before the team stars like Aaron Judge, Giancarlo Stanton, and Cody Bellinger start to regress. And with Boone heading into the last couple of years of his Yankees contract, the pressure to win the 28 World Series and end the 16-year drought is higher than ever.

With this move, the Yankees have given themselves the best chance of getting the best out of the team. Keeping Caballero maintains stability, while Volpe gets time to rebuild form without pressure. Although this decision feels harsh, it aligns with the idea of the team prioritizing wins over reputation.

While the move makes sense in the short term, what does this mean for the future of Anthony Volpe?

The Yankees are predicted to trade away Anthony Volpe

Although Jose Caballero is overperforming, the Yankees are looking at his numbers now and are choosing him over Anthony Volpe, and if Volpe doesn’t improve, the Yankees might start to look for alternatives when the trade deadline hits.

After having a terrible 2025, an injury, a surgery, and a very average rehab start, Anthony Volpe’s days might be numbered. As the gap between Volpe and Caballero grows with each passing day, the trade rumors with the St. Louis Cardinals keep growing.

A mock deal shows that the New York Yankees could trade Anthony Volpe for left-handed reliever JoJo Romero. Romero has logged a 3.94 ERA in 16 innings this season. He has shown that he could be a reliable bullpen arm. His 2025 was also great as he recorded just a 2.07 ERA, having pitched more than 60 innings.

The Yankees’ bullpen is leaning heavily towards righties, and the team is looking for a left-handed arm to put some balance. Romero could be that arm. But deciding on such a move all of a sudden might not be the right choice.

The market for Anthony Volpe is not where the Yankees would want to consider trading him. After hitting just .212 with 19 homers in 2025 and coming off an injury, the Yankees might not get much in return for him. So, they may need to include cash or will have to trade away top prospects.

But at the same time, if Volpe’s decline continues, he will lose more value, and trading him then will be a loss for the Yankees, as they will get nothing significant in return. And we have already seen how the Yankees have secured a couple of narrow wins against teams like the Angels, where the Angels’ bullpen blew it. If not, those games could have ended very differently.

So, with the Yankees in a win-now mentality, they could add a middle reliever like Romero for a short-term deal. But the question now with the Yankees is that Volpe is still a very young player.

At the age of 25, writing off a player’s career is never right. And if the Yankees do decide to trade away Volpe, that is what they will be telling. But are you going to give up on a youngster so fast? Considering the talent Volpe has, he is always going to be a better player than any middle reliever.

So should the Yankees believe in Volpe’s upside and play the gamble, or should they push their win-now mentality with full force and make the required changes?