Yankees Insider: This Prospect Has The Edge For Starting Shortstop

The New York Yankees have not one, but two elite prospects vying for the role as starting shortstop coming Opening Day. (Can we all admit now that Isiah Kiner-Falefa will not get the job?) But between Oswald Peraza and Anthony Volpe, New York baseball Insider Andy Martino reports that "it makes all the sense in the world" for Peraza to win the starting job. 

"That shortstop competition is obviously the most interesting thing going on at Yankee camp because you have two really dynamic young players in Volpe and Oswald Peraza," said Martino on MLB Network Radio Tuesday morning.

"The reason I don't think Volpe is going to break camp with the team is that he's just a little bit behind in the development calendar... You talk to most of the scouts in the Yankees system and they think Peraza is just a better defensive shortstop than Volpe.

"All things being equal, why would the Yankees jump Volpe ahead of Peraza?... It just makes all the sense in the world for it to be Peraza."

Oswald Peraza played only 18 games in 2022, but in those games he slashed .306/.404/.429 with an .833 OPS and a 146 wRC+

Looking forward to watching him as the Yankees starting shortstop in 2023 pic.twitter.com/zGuu2FH1BG

— YankeesMuse (@YankeesMuse) December 31, 2022

Peraza did extremely well in his 18-game trial in Pinstripes late last season, hitting .306 with an .832 OPS while displaying top-notch defense. And he even got the start in a postseason game. He's just clearly a step ahead of the slightly younger Volpe right now.

Volpe, the team's No. 1 prospect, did play second base in the Yankees' Grapefruit League game on Monday, further adding to the speculation that Peraza has the shortstop job locked up. 2B, in fact, could be Volpe's future in a keystone combo with Peraza.