About the Off-Season: I’ve Got a Secret

About the Off-Season: I’ve Got a Secret

By Tim Kabel

October 18, 2025

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I am going to take a break from looking at the roster for the 2026 Yankees position by position to address something else today. Many years ago, there was a television show called “I've Got a Secret”. On the show, a mystery guest who had a secret, which was usually something amazing, unusual, embarrassing, or humorous would be introduced. After the guest was introduced, a panel, usually comprised of celebrities or people who regularly made-up panels on various game shows would try to ask questions to determine what the secret was. The show was quite popular and lasted for many years.

Well, there is a new version of that show. The new version features the New York Yankees and it's a little different than the old show. In this version, “I’ve Got a Yankees’ Secret”, Aaron Boone and Brian Cashman are the ones who have the secret. When reporters ask questions, they come up with all sorts of maneuvers to avoid divulging the secret. They misrepresent, deny, and outright lie. Eventually, Cashman and or Boone disclose the secret in a rather matter of fact, “Oh, by the way” manner as if whatever the secret was  not a big deal anyway.

In the latest episode of “I've Got a Yankees’ Secret”, Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone announced on Thursday that both Anthony Volpe and Carlos Rodon had undergone surgery.

They are both likely to miss Opening Day. 

Rodon’s surgery was to remove floating bodies in his left elbow and to shave down a bone spur. This was a secret that no one knew anything about. There had been no discussion of it. No one was aware that Rodon was having surgery until it actually happened. While it does not appear to be anything major that will keep him out for a prolonged period, it would have been nice to knowabout it.

 Volpe’s surgery was much more extensive. He has a torn labrum and apparently the surgery was more involved than anyone thought it would be and by anyone, I mean the surgeon, Boone, Cashman, and presumably, Volpe. No one else knew about it. Volpe will not be able to resume hitting until mid-February, which is the four-month mark. He is not allowed to begin diving after balls until the six-month period, at least. All of this is subject to change. Now, think about it. No matter what you think of Volpe, he is someone who tries hard and wants to do well. I find it unlikely that he would be in the field and say to himself, “you can't dive after this ball until next month.” No, he will go after a ball any way he needs to. To protect him from further injury, that means he won't be able to play the field until late April or May, at the earliest. He also won't be able to be a player offensively either. Even if he is allowed to hit, what if he's running the bases and does a headfirst dive into second base. Is diving for the base acceptable while diving for a ball hit up the middle is not? Basically, someone other than Anthony Volpe will be the shortstop for at least the first month of the season and possibly two months or more. We can discuss who that will be down the road.

It was disclosed near the end of the season that Volpe did have a partially torn labrum, which he suffered diving after a ball in May. This was not revealed until September. That was four months after it happened. The Yankees kept this a secret for four months. It was suspected that he might need surgery, but it wasn't announced until after the fact. There are major concerns with this situation.

Although the Yankees, specifically, Aaron Boone, said that the injury did not impact Volpe’s play, that's not accurate. He had a cortisone shot during the All-Star break, which was also a secret and another one in September, which caused him to miss games. The fact that he had surgery almost immediately after the conclusion of the Yankees’ season indicates it was something very serious. There's no way that an injury of that magnitude could not have impacted Volpe’s play. It did. To deny it is just foolish. Furthermore, the fact that the surgery will keep him on the IL for at least the first month and possibly the first two months of the season, also indicate that this was a very severe injury.

Beyond the fact that this demonstrates yet again, that the Yankees cannot be trusted to disclose information to the media and their fans regarding their players, there is a darker side to it. They played Anthony Volpe from May until September with him in the lineup almost every day when he was clearly injured. For those of you saying, “well I don't know if he was clearly injured. They said it didn't impact him.”, you are mistaken. If it was not a serious injury, he would not have received two cortisone shots for it and he wouldn't have had major surgery on his shoulder less than two weeks after his season ended. Not only was this secretive and disingenuous, but it was also dangerous to the player. The Yankee should have addressed the issue and played someone else at shortstop. If Volpe needed the surgery, he could have had it then. Perhaps rest and treatment might have been effective early in the process. Putting a player in the lineup on a regular basis when he was clearly injured ran the risk of potentially causing further damage. In addition, it's possible that Volpe could have altered the way he was playing to be functional with the injury, which might have caused another injury.  If you don't believe me, ask Dizzy Dean.

The Yankees penchant for keeping secrets and denying injuries has been going on for a while. No one knew about Rodon's injury. There were aspects of Aaron Judge’s injury this year that were also not disclosed. Remember when Anthony Rizzo was put in the lineup day after day even though it was clear that he suffered a concussion? This practice needs to stop. Putting an injured player on the field is a bad idea. The injury could become worse. The player will clearly not be as effective as when they are healthy, and the Yankees are sending a message to not only their own players but potential free agents and others in the league that the Yankees do not care about injuries. They do not care about addressing the health and well-being of their players. They only care about winning and making money.

Unfortunately, they have not won the World Series since 2009. This practice of keeping things quiet and trotting injured players out onto the field has not worked.

The “I've Got a Secret” TV show was eventually cancelled. It's time the Yankees’ version of that show is cancelled as well. It is clear that Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone will remain here. Boone even stated that he thinks he is a better manager now than when he started. I'm not sure what metric he is using to determine that but, it needs to be discarded. Therefore, it is unlikely that “I've Got a Yankee’s Secret” will be cancelled anytime soon. As frustrating as that is for the fans and the media, it is not only frustrating but also dangerous to the players in question. There's an old saying that nothing good ever happens when you're out at three or four o’clock in the morning. It is also true that nothing good ever happens by ignoring, denying, or lying about a player's injury and putting him in the lineup every day.

When will the Yankees learn this?