One of MLB's Best Shortstops ‘Not a Fit' For Yankees at Trade Deadline
When Anthony Volpe’s career is all said and done, he can’t say nobody ever believed in him. Because, man, the New York Yankees sure seem to believe in him.
Perhaps they believe in him too much.
Knowing how enamored the Yankees front office is with the one-time heir apparent to Derek Jeter, it’s therefore unsurprising the team reportedly isn’t interested in trading for New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor. Even as Volpe has lost his regular shortstop spot to veteran Jose Caballero, New York apparently is not “prioritizing” the position ahead of the trade deadline.
“The Yankees are not prioritizing SS so Francisco Lindor isn’t a fit for them,” New York Post insider Jon Heyman tweeted Friday. “If the NY teams were willing to deal, the Mets do have players who make sense, including (Luis) Torrens, (Francisco) Alvarez, (Luke) Weaver and also (Clay) Holmes assuming he’s ready.”
Francisco is in the midst of his worst season ever, batting just .210 with a paltry .654 OPS entering Friday. The two-time Gold Glove winner has committed five errors in 134 chances and is below league average in fielding percentage among shortstops for the first time in his career.
Still, Francisco is only a year removed from a top-10 MVP finish. He’s almost never missed significant time due to injury before this season, and although he has five years remaining on the massive $341 million deal he signed in 2022, it’s not like the Yankees are historically afraid of big contracts.
The Mets are expected to undertake an enormous fire sale that’s already underway, so the Yankees failing to kick the tires on the best shortstop of his generation — or any shortstop at all — feels more than a little misguided. Their plummet in the standings without Aaron Judge should have convinced them that their right fielder needs help in the lineup. But maybe they feel like they’re all set. After all, they’ve always got Volpe.
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This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 3:39 PM.