LOS ANGELES — The Yankees came in this season and had a gaping hole at the shortstop. Gleyber Torres had a hard time there and moved back to second base. However, the Yankees got lucky when an announced free-agent class of shortstops hit the free-agent market: Carlos Correa, Corey Seager, Trevor Story and Javier Báez were all All-Stars, and three of them had won an award. World series.
The Yankees passed them all on and traded for Isiah Kiner-Falefa, a determined fielder not known for his bat.
Why? The team had been eager to improve its defense and the free agents’ price tags were extraordinary. Kiner-Falefa, who has been under team control for two seasons, will earn $4.7 million this year, while Correa, Seager, Story and Báez each signed contracts that paid them $23.3 million or more per year. With $35.1 million for this season, Correa is the second highest paid position player in baseball.
But Hal Steinbrenner, the general manager of the Yankees, said in March that there was another reason to stay away from the top talent: “We do have two incredible prospects that I would like to give a chance.”
One such prospect was Anthony Volpe, considered by many to be the shortstop of the organization’s future.
At the annual Futures Game, an exhibition of the sport’s best prospects, held in the run-up to Tuesday’s Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Volpe got the chance to show off the skills he dreams of one day getting to the top. Bronx goes.
“Of course that’s great to hear from someone like that,” Volpe said when he heard about Steinbrenner’s comments before Saturday’s game, in which he went 0 for 2 and made all the moves defensively on a short stop over three innings.
“I feel like I still have a long way to go and this is obviously a big step in my career, but there is still a lot of work to do,” he continued. “Even if I hopefully get there one day, there’s still a lot of work to be done to be the player I want to be and hopefully win a lot of rings here.”
Volpe, 21, sincerely meant that. It almost seems too good to be true: He was an avid Yankees fan growing up in Morristown, NJ, a town 40 miles west of Yankee Stadium, and he admired Derek Jeter, the former shortstop and captain of the Yankees Hall of fame. He attended Jeter’s last All-Star Game, in 2014, with his father, as well as the Futures Game that year. As a kid and now a potential Yankees, Volpe regularly introduces himself as a short stop at Yankee Stadium, much like his idol.
“That’s the end goal I’m working for and I’m super excited,” he said.
The Yankees selected Volpe, a Delbarton School right-handed batter with the 30th overall pick in the 2019 draft, and they lured him away from a college commitment to Vanderbilt University with a $2.7 million signing bonus.
“People don’t really know this story, but when he got called up he didn’t want to talk to any team during his senior year of high school just because he only cared about winning a state championship,” said infielder Max Burt, a from Volpe’s best friends at Class AA Somerset. “And that’s exactly what he did. Winning is the number one priority for him.”
Volpe’s first full season in the minor leagues didn’t come until 2021 as the pandemic canceled the previous season. In 109 games, he hit .294 with 27 home runs and an on-base plus slugging percentage of 1.027. Playing 30 minutes from his hometown with Somerset this season, Volpe started off slow but has been on a tear since early June.
“It was built for New York,” Burt said. “He was made to play under the bright lights. Obviously he’s from this area and has had daily media and so much attention, and he’s handled it incredibly.”
Playing so close to where he grew up has had its perks: Volpe lives in his childhood home – but with a few new friends. His Somerset teammates catcher Austin Wells (the 2020 Yankees’ first round), outfielder Blake Perkins and Burt will also remain there throughout the season. Volpe said his mother cooks for them and that after Sunday’s home games the whole team has been invited.
“It’s a great atmosphere to play in and then come home to see the family,” he said, adding later, “It’s been a fun year.”
On the field, said Somerset Manager Dan Fiorito, Volpe combines discipline at the plate, power, the ability to hit the ball with the barrel of the bat, strong defense and speed on base. Volpe swept 33 bases last season and already has more (35) this year due to fewer games.
“He’s only 21 years old,” Fiorito said by email, “and we’re all so excited about his future.”
Volpe added: “I just turned 21 this year and I don’t think there is a 21-year-old in the world who can’t get better at everything. It’s really hitting, defending, just about the whole game. I just want to keep learning and really never stop.”
But ask Yankees officials and Volpe’s teammates about him and one of the most common themes is his behavior. Fiorito said it was rare to find leaders in such young players and that Volpe was a “ruthless competitor”. Burt said his friend has the same attitude whether he’s 0 for 4 with four strikeouts or 4 for 4 with four home runs.
“The way he conducts his business, the way he leads that clubhouse, he has a really positive influence on his teammates, the way he interacts with the fans,” said Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman. “I mean, he has that ‘it’ factor. I know that’s a cliché, but it’s the best description I can give. You have five tools that you try to assess, and then you do the performance and then you get that extra gear, which is makeup.
“And he’s got that extra gear. That’s part of the package, and that’s an honor for his mom and dad. He will be a successful player at the highest level and we would certainly be delighted to be with us.”
The decision to bet on Kiner-Falefa, who is from Hawaii but also grew up watching the Yankees and wanting to be like Jeter, has proved worthwhile for New York this season. Along with other upgrades, he helped the Yankees become the best baseball team. They came in on Sunday, holding a 63-28 record and a 12½ lead in the American League East.
There is a boy from New Jersey who loves Jeter and hopes that one day he can do the same.