After the Yankees’ early exit from October Baseball, Anthony Volpe acknowledged that there’s “a lot of work to be done” in the offseason ahead. That certainly includes recovery from left shoulder surgery. While Volpe is not expected to be ready at least till Opening Day, the Yankees know that his recovery timeline could affect his availability. That means, even though the Yankees would have Jose Caballero, he can’t be the team’s only shortstop option moving forward.

The solution to that problem lies with their AL rivals—the Toronto Blue Jays. Apparently, the Jays have a crowded infield, and so a promising Rule 5 Draftee is on the outside looking in after enduring an injury-marred season.

MLB Pipeline’s No. 12 prospect in the Blue Jays system—Josh Kasevich—should be protected, or else he could be up for grabs this December.

He has hit .325 with an .815 OPS over 41 Triple-A games in 2024, but this season, a back injury limited his power and playing time across three rehab stints. It left him with a below-average .173 average in 29 Triple-A games. In the Arizona Fall League, though, he’s looking like his old self.

He’s hitting balls at a consistent exit velocity over 100 MPH.

Now it all comes to the Blue Jays. Will they risk losing a near-top-10 prospect?

If they do, the Yankees could really consider using their Rule 5 Draft pick or an active roster spot on Kasevich.

We saw how Anthony Volpe took a hard fall and injured his non-throwing shoulder back in early May. Most could sense something was seriously wrong. That suspicion only grew as he struggled massively at the plate. He delivered league-worst offense amidst cortisone shots.

Now, the Yankees can’t afford to endure that again in the next campaign.

Yankees looking for alternatives after Anthony Volpe update

The New York Yankees’ end-of-year press conference gave us intriguing updates.

It was relieving to know that franchise star Aaron Judge won’t require surgery for his elbow injury. But it was just as crushing to know that pitcher Carlos Rodón and shortstop Anthony Volpe will miss the start of next season, recovering from offseason procedures.

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As per the Yankees’ announcement, Anthony Volpe had to have surgery to repair the injury, and won’t be able to hit for four months at least. With that, Brian Cashman even mentioned that he thinks the injury was impacting Volpe’s slump. Of course, that doesn’t mean that he will come out of recovery and start putting up stellar numbers immediately.

But both Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman expressed confidence that Anthony Volpe will get his role back once healthy. Until then, the team will need somebody to fill in.

Utility man Jose Caballero feels like an obvious choice there. However, according to MLB analyst Jim Riley, the Yankees would trade him away this winter.

“Jose Caballero, honestly, truthfully, I think would be the better option for the Yankees to be the everyday shortstop than Volpe… but I think Volpe stays and he’s locked in and it’s almost a vote of confidence if you trade Caballero. So, Caballero to the (Atlanta) Braves would be a good fit here.”

The Yankees can still be confident because utility man Oswaldo Cabrera will be healthy enough to fill in for Volpe, especially at the beginning of the next season. Now, it’s just a matter of time till we see what the off-season has in store for Cashman and Co.