volpe Will Be Playing 2nd Base For The Reds Soon.

That’s my 22-year-old serious and in total agreement with me about how Anthony Volpe just ain’t that good. Face it Yankeeland, we were sold a bill of goods with this tool. But look, this post is about a lot, the Volpe problem, the Peraza truth and a front office that’s lost the plot. 

Oswald Peraza finally got a rare chance to play and—predictably—showed why he should’ve been in the lineup long ago. He launched a missile of a home run against the A’s and punctuated it with a bat slam and a fist pump like a man proving something—not just to the league, but to the people in his own dugout and front office who’ve ignored him.

Through interpreter Marlon Abreu, Peraza called it a “special moment.” He said he’s “really enjoying being part of this team and finding a way just to stay ready.” Translation: he’s kept his mouth shut while the Yankees wasted his talent and handed the starting shortstop job to someone who’s there for branding, not baseball.

Let’s stop sugarcoating it: Anthony Volpe is not a great shortstop. He’s a below-average bat who occasionally makes flashy defensive plays but botches too many routine ones. He’s batting around .230, doesn’t get on base enough, and his glove—while hyped—is wildly overrated. But he’s got the baby face, the Jersey roots, the “good kid” persona, and a social media feed filled with sponsors. 

That, apparently, is worth more to the Yankees than actual production.

The fans know it. The players probably know it. Hell, even my 22-year-old ballplayer of a son knows it. He said: “He’s not a good shortstop. Sure, there are flashes of defense, but there are better.” Then he added: “Volpe will be playing second base for the Reds or the Mariners soon,” and walked out of the room. But he made me think, he’s right.

That’s where this is heading—because the Yankees’ front office is too drunk on its own revenue to care about the product anymore. They are printing money, and it’s made them lazy, arrogant, and complacent. Why fix what’s broken when the seats are filled and the merchandise flies off the shelves?

Michael Fishman, the analytics guy who clings to arcane data models like a bunker map from 2017, is still somehow making baseball decisions. This is a man who views players as columns in a spreadsheet, not human beings who can hit, hustle, and make a difference. Sometimes you need to add the eye test in there, big guy. He and the front office cronies probably pushed for Volpe, and the organization bent over backward to turn him into Derek Jeter 2.0 before he’d even played a full season. And now they’re too embarrassed to admit they were wrong. He ain’t Derek Jeter, he’s Mario Mendoza.

Then there’s Aaron Boone—baseball’s most clueless babysitter. Boone doesn’t manage. He doesn’t strategize. He just parrots whatever garbage the front office hands him and acts like it’s gospel. Every day, he’s trotting Volpe out there no matter what—ignoring better options like Peraza, because Boone doesn’t have the spine or the baseball IQ to do anything else. He’s a puppet. A yes-man. A press conference soundboard who shows more energy arguing about borderline strikes than he does in setting a competent lineup.

Meanwhile, George Lombard Jr. is rocketing through the minors. The kid hit .329 with a .496 OBP in his first 24 games at Double-A—more walks than strikeouts, 11 stolen bases, and poise beyond his years. That’s your shortstop. Not Volpe. And if you’re smart—and not just cashing Steinbrenner’s checks—you make the call now and get Peraza in at second… Regularly!

But the Yankees are too brand-obsessed to make the right baseball decision. They’ve turned a world-class franchise into a lifestyle label. They care more about being a premium entertainment product than they do about winning actual championships. That’s why we haven’t seen a ring since 2009. That’s why Peraza rides the bench while Volpe starts. That’s why Boone still has a job. And that’s why Yankees fans are watching the same dumb movie year after year.

Peraza deserves better. Lombard deserves a real shot. Yankees fans deserve honesty.

The Volpe experiment is a failure. The Fishman algorithm is garbage. And Boone? He’s the mascot for a franchise that’s stopped caring about baseball and started chasing clout.

Fix it. Or trade Volpe to the Reds, like my son said, and let real ballplayers run the Bronx again.