Young New York Yankees Star Has Cornerstone Potential
Being a cornerstone of the New York Yankees is something special. The names that have led this franchise are, well, a murderer’s row of legends.
Babe Ruth. Lou Gehrig. Joe DiMaggio. Mickey Mantle. Yogi Berra. Reggie Jackson. Derek Jeter.
And that’s just a sample. It’s certainly not the complete list.
These days, Aaron Judge is the closest thing to a cornerstone player. But, Judge is already 31 years old entering 2024. He should be productive for a long time, but he won’t be the team’s cornerstone forever.
Kansas City signed shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. to an 11-year contract earlier this week. The Royals clearly see the young star as their cornerstone for the future.
So based on that criteria, who is the Yankees’ future cornerstone?
MLB.com set out to find out. Its writers put together a list of a budding cornerstone for each franchise going into 2024.
The criteria was simple. First, the player had to be under 25 years old. Second, the player should already be a Major Leaguer. The only exception would be a prospect under a long-term deal, such as Milwaukee Brewers outfielder Jackson Chourio, who has yet to make his MLB debut.
Based on that criteria, the site selected Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe.
He’ll be 22 years old on Opening Day and he’ll be starting his second full season in the Majors. He was thrown into the fire last season as a rookie and he ended up becoming the first Yankees rookie to win a Gold Glove at his position.
Most fans paid attention to the batting numbers, and he certainly had some rookie struggles, with a slash line of .209/.283/.383/.666. He did add some power with 21 home runs and 60 RBI. Plus, he stole 24 bases and was caught just five times.
That’s right — Volpe was a 20/20 player last season. It was a breakthrough of sorts. No Yankees rookie had ever done that, either.
MLB.com made the point that Juan Soto will be under 25 on opening day. But, as Soto is only under contract for one season and the Yankees control Volpe for five more seasons, Volpe was the choice.
