It's Funny...
but Joel Sherman summed up my concerns about Derek Jeter perfectly. Sherman also includes a very sobering fact, no team has ever won the World Series with a 37-year old shortstop.
The problem as I said yesterday is going to be that Jeter should be right at the doorstep of 3,000 hits. Assuiming Jeter gets 180 hits a year for the next two seasons (he has averaged 200 a season the last three years) he will have 2,895 hits. Now, it would be reasonable to assume if he gets to that point that he would get his 3,000 hit in 2011, but I don't think Jeter is going to take a one-year deal and the paycut the Yankees will want to give him.
Sherman calls it "D-Day" and it is a good term for it. I don't think Jeter would ever complain in the press or even rip the Yankees if a deal isn't reached, but he wouldn't have to. Fans will do that for him and fans will demand that Jeter comes back. A-Rod will get sucked into this because the majority of talk radio airwaves will be filled with something along the lines of, "How can you give that bum who has never won a ten-year deal and then not show Jeter, a true Yankee, any respect?"
And the biggest problem is there is no good solution. The smart move from a baseball perspective will be to give Jeter the keys to Yankee Stadium and a position in the front office for him to retire to, but Jeter isn't going to accept that. The right move from an emotional standpoint would be to sign him to a new deal and let him keep playing short. The middle ground is probably a two-year deal and a position change, but where could you put him? First is gone, second is too hard defensively, center is being left open for Austin Jackson and his bat doesn't support a move to left or right. I suppose you could move A-Rod to left and Jeter to third, but do you really want to go into a season with two of your starters learning new positions?
Add in the fact that there are no viable candidates in the farm system to replace Jeter and this becomes even more depressing. At some point, someone is going to be asked to fill Derek Jeter's shoes. It could be a free agent, it could be a rookie, but the pressure is going to be tremedous. Mickey Mantle couldn't handle it initially when he was brought to the majors as the next DiMaggio and given the #6.
As Sherman says, 324 regular season games to go.
Comments
why not address it now and extend his deal today for 2 additional years and blend the math on the $$$ so it is acceptable and agreeable by everybody.
Then you don't have the circus and focus on 3000 hits etc. later
Only deal would be where he would play. While no team has ever won with an old shortstop, Jeter being your shortstop would not be the reason the Yankees don't win. I would bet on that.
Posted by: blmeanie | February 6, 2009 11:05 AM |
You said something along the lines of Jeter's bat not being good enough for left. For a team like the Royals, this is true. For a team like the Yanks or Sox, not so much. With the money and resources the Yankees have, they are going to carry some of the top offensive players at each position. A good question is, what outfielders with the yankees sign to replace Nady, Matsui, and Damon at the end of the year? That will be roughly 32 million coming off the books. I hear Holliday's dad wants him to be a yank :).
Posted by: Tom | February 6, 2009 06:55 PM |
I would seriously consider trading a-fraud in two years if he hasn't won a title with the yanks. The yanks can eat a lot of his salary. Draft or trade for a good SS prospect now and move Jeter to third in two years. A really good defensive SS should be ready for the bigs. I believe Jeter only spent two years in the minors.
Posted by: james hill | February 7, 2009 10:55 AM |