I know I promised a college basketball preview for both NY and Philly college basketball teams but more pressing news has come up recently. The unthinkable is actually happening, Derek Jeter’s contract negotiations haven’t been going very smoothly, no one was naïve enough to believe that they would be done in a day or two or that the two sides would quickly reach an agreement on the value of the legendary shortstop going forward. Jeter and his agent have made the point that Jeter is one of the more indispensable players in Yankee history, that his contributions to the team can’t be numerically quantified and that he should be paid for everything he’s done for the franchise. The Yankees brass say that they have already made Jeter quite rich throughout his career, that they are want him on the team but that he must recognize that he is getting older and his skills and value are diminishing, therefore he shouldn’t get paid like the player he was 10 years ago.
This is an odd side for me to take; Jeter is the Yankee of my generation. Each generation of Yankee fans has had an iconic, all time, first ballot hall of fame player who is the identity of Yankee success during that generation. Ever since he showed up for his first game as a starter in the 1996 season, where he hit a home run against the Indians in his first major league game Derek Jeter has been that Yankee, and the thought of seeing him in another uniform is nauseating and disheartening, however I’m almost, almost inclined to take the side of the Yankee bosses. I cannot say it enough, I LOVE Derek Jeter however, I was expecting someone like him to not ask for an outrageous contract, I kind of expected Derek to recognize his skills may be eroding and to ask for a reasonable deal so that he can get his three thousandth hit in pinstripes, stick around for a year or two more then call it a career, riding off into the sunset as the greatest shortstop to ever put on the sacred pinstripes of the Bronx Bombers. He basically wants a four year deal worth 80 million; the Yanks want to give him a three year deal worth 45 million, so there not far apart on this negotiation, but the nasty public comments going back and forth between Jeter’s agent and Brain Cashman and Hal Steinbrenner have made it seem like this could be another sloppy, hurtful break up, similar to that of Joe Torre. Derek’s agent called the Yankee offer baffling, which it isn’t, but Cashman retorted by saying that if Derek is displeased with the offer he should test the free agent market and see if he could find an offer that he likes, then Hal said he feels the Yankees have made him very rich for a lot of years and he doesn’t feel they owe him anything in terms of money.
I can’t believe it but I actually agree with Cashman and Hal. To call the Yankees offering “baffling” is insulting, Jeter would continue to be the highest paid shortstop in the game, even though he isn’t one of the 5 best shortstops on the field. Jeter had by far his worst offensive season of his career this past season, and at his age it’s hard to claim he just had a bad year. He plays one of the most important defensive positions on the field yet it is almost universally recognized that Derek’s range at short has been in decline for a few years now. Besides all of that Jeter had one of the most lucrative contracts in baseball for the past 10 years, the last time Jeter was a free agent he had an option, accept the Yankees offer, or go to arbitration and try and squeeze even more money from the Yankees, which he did without hesitation, but now that the shoe is on the other foot the Yankees are being cruel? Also the idea that DJ should be repaid for his years of service to the Yankees is ridiculous, what was the 21 million he got paid last year? That wasn’t repaying him for his service, he’s been compensated many times over for his spectacular play on the field and wearing the Yankee pinstripes has only increased his marketability. Also where else is Derek Jeter going to go? Is he really going to play for the Reds and get his three thousandth hit there, over a few million? This may be the first time Jeter needs the Yankees more than the Yankees need him.
No comments:
Post a Comment