You’re not going to believe this, but Twitter is up in flames over the fact that evaluators love a New York Yankees shortstop prospect. Ugh! Given the position he plays and city he represents, he simply must be overrated!
After nearly three decades of rebutting arguments about how Derek Jeter’s range factor undoes his 3,000 hits, five rings and air of greatness — eg, all the things we all actually watched happen — the HaterVerse has now moved onto pre-judging Anthony Volpe.
He simply can’t be good. He’s aYankee! That’s it only reason publications are reading his statistics and saying he’s good! Also, when the lights go off, where do my hands go?
After a “down year” where he was pushed to both Double-A Somerset and Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, following the breakout season of a lifetime, Volpe stayed steady at No. 5 on MLB Pipeline’s Top 100 Prospects list, released Thursday evening. Jasson Dominguez moved down from No. 39 to No. 47, while Oswald Peraza dipped slightly (50 to 52).
Wow, two falls and a static placement? Yankee Bias at its finest, according to people who deposit their money with the Tooth Fairy instead of banks. Volpe deserved to plummet after the first 20 homer-50 stolen base season in the minors since Andrew Jones in 1995 — at shortstop!
Volpe places #5 on the MLB Pipeline T100 alongside Yankees’ Jasson Dominguez (#47) and Oswald Peraza (#52). https://t.co/RkTnZDpjod
— Eli Fishman (@elijfishman) January 27, 2023
Reds fans were particularly angry, considering Volpe was ranked No. 1 on the shortstop list, ahead of their phenom Elly De La Cruz (No. 3). De La Cruz also slotted in at No. 10 in the Top 100, behind Marcelo Mayer of the Red Sox in both instances (No. 2 on the shortstop-specific list, No. 9 in the Top 100).
Don’t be angry at Volpe, who’s got a two-year track record of being dominant, whereas De La Cruz’s case is based mostly on his exceptional 2022 season.
You know what’s fun about this, though? We can enjoy both! Both seem to be ranked pretty high! Plus, shouldn’t Cincinnati’s gripe be with Mayer, who OPS’d nearly 60 points behind De La Cruz last year in his full-season debut and whose sole advantage — at this point — is “Boston on Jersey”?
C’mon, man! #Reds #ATOBTTR MLB Pipeline inexcusably ranked this Yankees prospect ahead of Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz https://t.co/jvpc0lnuaq
— Blog Red Machine (@blogredmachine) January 27, 2023
Let’s redirect this off Volpe vs. the Reds for an instant and focus on the rest of MLB Pipeline’s evaluations, which were … honestly not incredible for the Bombers.
Yes, according to the Twitter Whining Committee, MLB Pipeline showed off their extreme Yankees bias by ranking Volpe fifth while also ranking him as the only Yankee mentioned in their positional top 10 lists.
Oswald Peraza didn’t make the Top 10 Shortstops. Jasson Dominguez didn’t make the Top 10 Outfielders. Austin Wells didn’t make the Top 10 Catchers (and didn’t show up in the Top 100 anyway). Spencer Jones was nowhere to be found. Everson Pereira didn’t make it, despite sneaking into Baseball America’s Top 100.
In fact, it’s somewhat amazing Volpe didn’t fall, considering how much MLB Pipeline’s evaluators seem to dislike Yankees prospects. Volpe’s rise is a true against-the-odds underdog stories, something the haters fail to see. Sad!
It’s funny the “it’s cause he’s a Yankee” when in reality MLB Pipeline hates Yankee prospects.
Peraza DROPPED on their list (despite being a beast in the 18-game showing)
They didn’t list Wells OR Jones (every other one has em)
Pretty funny shit
— Fireside Yankees (@FiresideYankees) January 27, 2023
Perhaps Volpe will be the Yankees’ second home-grown star developed in the past two decades after Aaron Judge (Brett Gardner’s third). That’d be fantastic for us! It would be a big success!
Perhaps he’ll turn into a solid regular and never live up to the insane “Next Jeter” comps, at which point the rest of the baseball world can rest on their laurels. “Look at me!” they’ll say. “I’m resting! And I’m doing it on my laurels! Jealous?!”
Until then, though, screaming about Yankee Bias even though the Yankees are famously the baseball world’s most hated team is tiresome. Let the kids play before knocking the kids down.