Anthony Volpe was not good in 2025. Objectively, he was one of the worst position players in the MLB. The third-year shortstop had the third lowest on-base percentage, eighth lowest OPS and second lowest batting average among qualified major league hitters. By measure of both old school percentages and modern analytics, he was substandard.
Defensively, he was worth minus-eight outs above average, the first time that mark has been negative in his career. Despite winning a Gold Glove in his 2023 rookie season and being worth 8 OAA in 2024, the New Jersey native had the fifth worst fielding run value of any shortstop and committed the third most errors of any position player.
Volpe could still be a valuable player in MLB; he will play all of 2026 at 25-years-old and played through a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder for much of the season.
Still, it would behoove the Yankees to explore their options at the position. While the market is relatively thin, here are some options that General Manager Brian Cashman and company could consider.
Jose Caballero
Caballero had a fantastic introduction to New York following his midseason trade from the Tampa Bay Rays. Notably, the utility man’s defense graded out positively at shortstop after the trade and his work on the season gave him five OAA.
Caballero is far less reliable with the bat. Despite posting a big .828 OPS over his 40 games in New York, the 29-year-old has never posted a season OPS at .700 or above in any of his first three full seasons.
Caballero profiles better as a utility player who finds his way into around 80-100 games a season while moving around the diamond. He is more valuable as a late game defensive replacement or someone who can pinch run and steal a base than as an everyday shortstop. It’s unlikely his bat would hold up over 150 games, minimizing his value while not fully unlocking increased offensive production at the position.
Bo Bichette
After an injury-shortened season in 2024, Bichette bounced back in 2025 to put himself at the top of the shortstop market and towards the top of the position player market as a whole.
Bichette is the worst defensive shortstop in baseball, with his defense being worth –10 OAA, good for the 13th worst of any position player. According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, however, “teams haven’t been scared off of Bichette at shortstop.”
That is likely in large part because of the .311/.357/.483 triple slash that Bichette provided in 2025. The 4.7 offensive wins above replacement far outweigh the –0.4 dWAR.
The biggest roadblock on the path to Bichette in pinstripes is the uniform he’s worn before, as the Blue Jays are widely considered the favorites to resign Bichette. The Blue Jays have been demonstrated to be willing spenders in recent offseasons and the eight year, $208 million predicted by MLB Trade Rumors should be within their budget.
The Yankees do have at least some level of familiarity with the Bichette family. Bo’s brother, Dante Jr., was a supplemental first round selection by the team in the 2011 draft.
The Blue Jays will be extremely motivated to keep the Vladimir Guerrero Jr./Bichette tandem alive north of the border. Still, it’s fun to dream of a world where Bichette plays shortstop for a few years before George Lombard Jr. (more on him later) or another young prospect is ready, at which point Bichette could move to second base for a departing Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Ha-Seong Kim
In many ways, Kim represents a polar opposite to Bichette. While 2025 was the first season of the South Korean’s career in which he was worth negative OAA at shortstop, he ended with a positive mark in three of the first four years of his career at the position.
The former San Diego Padre also struggled at the plate but put up an OPS of at least .700 in the three years prior. That kind of production is more than enough for a strong defender at a premier position.
Kim bounced around a bit last season after signing a two-year, $29 million deal with the Rays during the 2024-25 offseason and later being claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves with the Rays trying to shed payroll after falling out of contention. He also missed large chunks of time with shoulder and back injuries and didn’t get to participate in a full spring training as a result.
Speculatively, the unsettled nature of Kim’s season may have contributed to the down year. He and his agent, Scott Boras, felt comfortable enough with his market to opt out of the second year of the deal he signed with the Rays to test the open market. MLBTR projects two-year, $30 million deal.
Kim represents a short-term established starter.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa
Cover your eyes, Yankees fans.
Kiner-Falefa is a familiar face in New York, having spent the 2022 season as the starting shortstop for the Yankees and 2023 as a utility player. That saga is generally not remembered fondly by Yankees fans.
The initial trade that brought Kiner-Falefa from the Minnesota Twins shipped out fan favorites Gary Sánchez and Gio Urshela. Kiner-Falefa proceeded to hit .261 but put up a horrendous .642 OPS with just four home runs. He was worth an even zero WAR in 2023 and signed with the Toronto Blue Jays for two years, $15 million following the season.
The 2025-26 shortstop free agent class thins out significantly following Bichette and Kim. Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas and Kiner-Falefa are the only two other players who posted a WAR of over one while playing the majority of their innings at shortstop.
It’s hard to imagine Rojas playing in anything but a Dodgers uniform at this juncture of his career. Rojas himself said that his priority is to play one more year for the Dodgers and then reevaluate his future, according to an interview with Doug McKain of Dodgers Nation.
There’s no secret to who Kiner-Falefa is as a player. He’s a former gold glover at third base who plays a passable but underwhelming shortstop. A career .262 hitter, he’s averaged one home run about every 86 at bats.
Kiner-Falefa is only an option if the Yankees choose to move off Volpe for the sake of making a change.
CJ Abrams
With the Washington Nationals looking to be at least a couple years away from contention and Abrams “only” having three more years of control on his rookie contract, the rebuilding Nats may be willing to part with the player once viewed as their franchise shortstop.
“We’re in the business right now of just bringing in as much value as we can to the organization,” said new President of Baseball Operations Paul Toboni, according to the Washington Post’s Spencer Nusbaum.
Abrams’ value is obvious. The 2024 all-star won’t turn 26 until the 2026 playoffs. He swiped 30 bags and hit nearly 20 home runs last season, posting a solid .748 OPS.
Those who weren’t fans of Volpe’s 2025 defensive output, however, will shudder at Abrams’ glovework. The former top 10 prospect was one of only three players in MLB with more errors than Volpe last season.
At a minimum, Abrams’ combination of age and control would cost the Yankees one of their top 100 prospect pitchers in Carlos Lagrange or Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz as part of a longer package. With Abrams being arbitration-eligible for the first time this offseason, he provides a cheaper alternative to the top-heavy free agent class if the Yankees prefer to spend prospects rather than cash.
George Lombard Jr.
This list wouldn’t feel complete without addressing Lombard. Yankees Twitter addressed him every time Volpe made an error.
The fact of the matter is that he just isn’t ready, much to the chagrin of the keyboard warriors clamoring for his callup. Let’s remember the Volpe situation.
Volpe slashed .251/.348/.472 as a 21-year-old in Double-A before finishing the 2022 season with a rough 22 game cup of coffee a Triple-A, He was then immediately promoted to MLB for Opening Day 2023.
The 20-year-old Lombard slashed .215/.337/.358 while playing in an Eastern League in which he was three-and-a-half years younger than average (one year younger than Volpe was in his first Double-A campaign).
Lombard could still be a great player at the MLB level. By all accounts, his defense is Major League ready. The bat simply is not. Even promoting him to Triple-A to begin 2026 could seriously stunt his development. A major league assignment would be malpractice.
“Defensively he’s ready to go, offensively it looks like he needs more time, and we’re looking to ride that time and those reps,” said Cashman in a media session with reporters during this month’s GM Meetings, including Sports Illustrated’s Erin Shapland. “So, I wouldn’t think ’26 is on the horizon, but I wouldn’t rule it out at some point in ’26 at the same time.”