Yankees Can Get Anthony Volpe Answer From Crosstown Knicks

The New York Knicks traded their inconsistent homegrown shooting guard, RJ Barrett, in 2023. Despite earning a big payday a year before the trade went down, Leon Rose sent the man Basketball Reference dubbed the Maple Mamba to the Toronto Raptors. For the Knicks, it was addition by subtraction, sending off a player who'd been a net negative to the organization while his value was still salvageable. In a lot of ways, there's a lesson to be learned here for the New York Yankees, who play 9.6 miles from the Garden where Barrett once hailed.

Barrett is probably a better hooper than Anthony Volpe has been an MLB slugger. Still, there are enough parallels in how underwhelming these young players have been statistically, despite the hype they brought.

These are two guys who check all the boxes personality-wise for how a New York athlete should carry themselves, but the most crucial element, which is their play on the court and the field, lacked. Unfortunately, it didn't work for the Knicks and it's looking less likely that it will work for the Yankees.

Nov 19, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Toronto Raptors forward RJ Barrett (9) shoots the ball against the Philadelphia 76ers during the fourth quarter at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

Anthony Volpe by the Numbers

In three big league seasons, Volpe has hit .222/.283/379 with an 85 wRC+. He has accumulated a 6.5 WAR according to Fangraphs and has 52 home runs, 192 RBI, and 70 stolen bases in 1,886 plate appearances.

On paper, these numbers don't look great — and they aren't distinguished by any means — but Volpe comes with some selling points still. Here's a player who is still 24 years old and has a 21-homer season and a 19-homer season. In back-to-back years, he has started strong, giving glimpses of what could be.

Sep 30, 2025; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe (11) hits a solo home run during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox during game one of the Wildcard round for the 2025 MLB playoffs at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

In the first two months of the 2025 campaign, Volpe hit .239 with a .748 OPS. His defense still had not fallen off a cliff at that point. Those first two months of 2024 were slightly better than his most recent start, too. Volpe hit .282 with a .784 OPS. He hit a long lull before a respectable postseason, which was capped off by a grand slam that extended the Yankee season by one more game.

Trading Volpe

If the Yankees are going to move on from Volpe, Brian Cashman can go for the tried-and-true gimmick of selling teams on the fact that their first-round pick wasn't built for the bright lights of New York. Cash did it with Sonny Gray, and the right hander ended up having a promising career for himself after leaving. The same can happen here, and there is bound to be a team that will take Volpe on.

The return won't be great, and it shouldn't be. There may not be an OG Anunoby equivalent, and that's okay.

Dec 19, 2025; New York, New York, USA; New York Knicks forward Og Anunoby (8) drives to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers guard Jared McCain (20) during the second quarter at Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images | Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Trading Volpe is less about finding a good piece in return and more about freeing up the shortstop position and seeing where they can go from there. If Volpe performs well in a smaller market, such as Cincinnati or Seattle, then so be it. The excuse could be that he can't handle the pressure of playing in New York, and it wouldn't have happened in the Bronx anyway. The built-in justification is right there for Cash.

To say the Yankees should move on from Volpe is less an attack on his character, because, if you were to build a player's personality up from scratch, hoping to mold him into the perfect pinstriped Boy Scout, you would get him, Aaron Judge or Derek Jeter. The problem is that Volpe just hasn't performed. It would be great if he did, but at some point, the Yankees have to stop looking at potential and assess the situation realistically.

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