At one point in the season, Amed Rosario felt like the better option to play third base for the New York Yankees over Ryan McMahon. He had a successful string of big games early on, and, at that point, it was the right decision to give Rosario some run.
Months later, Rosario finds himself in a different position. One of the big veteran voices in the locker room hasn’t had much of an impact on the big club in a while.
Since August, Rosario is hitting .250/.302/.275 with a 66 wRC+. While he has been better of late, going 8 for 24 with 4 RBI and a stolen base during that span, the emergence of Anthony Volpe could put a wrinkle in Rosario’s future with the big club during the postseason.
At some point, Jazz Chisholm Jr. will come back. The Yankees might want to platoon him or Ryan McMahon against tough lefties.
The issue with giving Volpe Rosario’s job is that he hasn’t played much third base, but there’s an argument that Rosario’s poor underlying defensive metrics also make him a liability. Rosario has a -9 OAA in total this year. While Volpe doesn’t have many repetitions at the hot corner outside of a few games in the minors, his defense in general has been better this year.
Passing the utility torch
Volpe currently has a 5 OAA this in 2026, but so far, Baseball Savant has not accounted for his time at second. He is probably a plus defender at the position, though, given his play so far in his short sample size.
The former top shortstop prospect gets a lot of flak for defense, but outside of last year, he has been dependable, even winning a Gold Glove his first season in the big leagues, and potentially should have won another in 2024. If he looks good at second, third could be on the table, too.
The funny thing about a potential Rosario and Volpe debate is that the 25-year-old former everyday shortstop is actually on the trajectory of Rosario, who was a one-time top prospect at the same position in 2018. In many ways, it’s a passing of the torch from hyped young players to super utility guys.
If Volpe will have any future with the Yankees, it could be in that role Rosario was supposed to have coming into the year. It might be tough at third, but with Rosario struggling at the position anyway, Volpe could be something of an upgrade if the Yankees give him a shot there. Unfortunately, that could leave Rosario without a spot on the Bombers’.
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