Volpe, Peraza and the Yankees’ shortstop dilemma
TAMPA, Fla. — For the much-maligned Yankee farm system, this spring is the best of times and the worst of times.
The best of times is Jasson Dominguez, the young switchhitting phenom center fielder, who is living up to all the accompanying hype from when the Yankees signed him for $5.1 million out of the Dominican Republic as the No. 1 rated international prospect in 2019. As of Friday, Dominguez was 7 for 16 with three homers, seven RBIs and a 1.526 OPS in Grapefruit League play as the cries of “Martian” (his colorful and appropriate nickname for his “out-ofthis-world” five-tool talent) have been resonating through the stands of George M. Steinbrenner Field. He added a fourth home run Saturday.
More best of times has been the emergence of Jersey-bred fan favorite Anthony Volpe from longshot in the shortstop sweepstakes to the frontrunner in the early going of spring.
It has been a while since there has been this much rookie buzz in the Yankee camp. For other than Aaron Judge (and granted he’s a pretty good one), the Yankees have not developed a frontline position player since Brett Gardner in 2008, and before that Derek Jeter and Jorge Posada in the ‘90s. It’s been the same with pitchers. Not since Andy Pettitte in 1995 have the Yankees drafted and developed a top-ofthe-rotation starting pitcher. We will see if that changes this year with Clarke Schmidt, their No. 1 draft pick in 2017 out of South Carolina who is getting a golden opportunity for a spot in the rotation with Frankie Montas having undergone shoulder surgery prior to spring training that will sideline him for months.
So what possibly could be the worst of times?