The Yankees and The Phillies are coming off disappointing playoff losses and naturally the focus is on getting their squads ready for next year. However, both teams have key pieces that are now free agents and could potentially bolt for greener pastures, and green means money. The Phillies have their star right fielder and right handed power hitter Jason Worth on the market and things aren’t looking up for Phillies fans if they were hoping to retain him. He doesn’t want to speak on the subject with two much detail because that would tip his hand, he has indicated though that he doesn’t plan on offering the Phillies a home town discount, and he intends to be paid handsomely for his services. The Phillies probably aren’t going to re-sign him to the deal he wants and that could cause major problems for the Phils. Worth is obviously a devastating hitter, but more importantly he’s a right handed hitter, which splits up the Phillies corner stone hitters, Ryan Howard and Chase Utley, both of whom are lefties. The need for Worth as a righty hitter became very apparent in the NLCS when the eventual World Series champs, the San Francisco Giants and their very deep pitching rotation and bullpen shut down the heavily favored Phillies and their lineup that was declared the best in the N.L.
The Yankees, who lost to the Rangers in the A.L.C.S. also, have a small problem in terms of bringing an important player back for the 2011 season. Only this player is a Yankee legend a first ballot hall of famer and their captain: Derek Jeter. This isn’t as simple as it seems though, the knee jerk reaction would be to automatically re-sign Jeter and I’m sure this saga is going to end in Jeter being re-signed, however the terms of the contract could get tricky. Jeter is an aging star, who is coming off the worst season of his career by far. His bat looked much slower at the plate, he struck out 8 times in the A.L.C.S. , very un Jeter like and his range at shortstop which has been questioned for a couple of years now looked even more limited. Despite this the Yankees have to handle this situation carefully, Jeter is beloved by the fans and rightfully so, he brought us 5 championships and the bets shortstop play the Yankees organization has ever seen. He’s done all this with class and dignity, a phrase that has almost become a cliché because it gets throw around a lot but in Jeter’s case it’s true, he’s been in the spot light in New York since 1996 and has never been caught up in controversy. All he’s done is win, he’s my generations Mickey Mantle or Joe DiMaggio. That being said, he’s probably not going to be get back to that legendary status, and the question becomes how do you compensate Jeter for all he’s done and still keep him around with dignity, while lessening his role with the club at the same time. As volatile as this situation could potentially be I don’t see it being a huge problem, I just don’t see Jeter handling this situation any differently then he’s handled things throughout his career, with class and dignity. He will want to be paid handsomely, as he should, but I doubt he’ll cause much of a stir. He will still compete and do everything he can on the field, but like DiMaggio before him, I don’t think Jeter will want to watch himself disintegrate into an inferior player, he will probably play till he gets his three thousandth hit, stick around a little longer then ride of into the sunset as the greatest shortstop in New York Yankee history.
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