New York Yankees: Why Anthony Volpe’s call-up was important for Bombers

Entering spring training, the biggest question the New York Yankees faced was: who will be their starting shortstop on March 30? In the closing days of spring, it came down to 22-year-old Oswald Peraza and 21-year-old Anthony Volpe. Regardless of the decision, a new, young shortstop would be taking the field on Opening Day, the youngest one for New York since Derek Jeter in 1996.

Volpe beat out Peraza for the position after batting .309 with three home runs, five RBI, five stolen bases and a 1.033 OPS in 55 at-bats during spring training. Additionally, he has flashed the leather in the gap multiple times. He looks Major League-ready, and is getting his shot.

Anthony Volpe’s much-anticipated promotion is important for the New York Yankees in more ways than just having his name on the lineup card.

Starting with the late George Steinbrenner and spanning the last 20 years, the Yankees have been known as the franchise that loves to go out and spend big money on free agents. They are also usually willing to trade whatever price for a superstar if it meant they had a shot to win a World Series.

Those days seem to be gone, at least in some regard. Over the past two seasons, whenever the Yankees attempted to add big names to their roster at the trade deadline for their playoff push, other teams would come back with the same names for a return package: Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza, and Jasson Dominguez. Some asked for one, some asked for multiple, but the Yankees said “no” all the same.

The “spend big” method has only garnered one World Series Championship for the Yankees: 2009. The dynasty of the late 90s was a beast comprised of an entirely different method. Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera (known as the Core Four, plus Bernie Williams) were all brought up through the farm system and developed by the Yankees. Yes, they went out and got guys like Tino Martinez and other pieces through free agency and trades to help make that team what it was, but that core is what was essential for the dynasty: homegrown talent.

For years, it felt like the Hal Steinbrenner, Brian Cashman, Aaron Boone, and other front office execs would never pull the trigger on letting young talent play; because the ideology was always to “win now” and theoretically, having young guys out there would never allow you to do that.

Naturally, Aaron Judge is also important in all of this, he came up through the farm system, but not until he was already 24 years old. Now age 30, he is the captain of the Yankees and someone that can help these young kids become stars for the team.

Even with Peraza being sent down, Yankees fans can rejoice in knowing he will be back in the Majors at some point this year, and he may even stay there if he plays well enough (there may even be a Jasson Dominguez sighting at some point too).

This was a big moment for New York to finally hand over that coveted shortstop position to a young talent like Volpe. They are showing now is the time to trust the young guys they refused to trade away to so many, and rely on them to contribute to winning baseball regardless of their age.

Something the Yankees probably looked at was the franchise that has plagued them in the American League for the past seven years, the Houston Astros. Houston let Carlos Correa walk, and they replaced him with a rookie in Jeremy Peña. Not only did the Astros win another World Series, but Peña was named World Series MVP. Now, that shouldn’t be the standard for Volpe, but the Astros took a chance on a young player they liked and it paid out huge.

Volpe, Peraza, Dominguez, and Oswaldo Cabrera, these are the guys that can lead the Yankees into a bright, competitive future for years to come. Cabrera has already shown he can be a contributor to this team and Volpe is getting his shot. The others aren’t too far away.