Archive for Derek Jeter
Jeter hard up for the dough
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Just a few hours ago, we were talking about low-level rumors concerning a Derek Jeter contract extension. Later in the day, pictures emerged that showed Jeter could really use the dough. As you can see, he’s been reduced to begging for money on the streets of Coney Island. And his hair grew out since last week.
Nah, I’m just kidding you. Derek’s filming a movie. The film, called The Other Guys, stars Mark Wahlberg and Will Ferrell as two cops who, in the words of The Post, “are permanently benched after Wahlberg’s character wrongly shoots Jeter in the leg after seeing him walking around with a bat.” Jeter plays a future washed-up version of himself.
Click here for a rather amusing photogallery of scenes from the movie shoot. With that scraggly long hair and oversized puffy coat, Derek has never looked better.
A brief musing on the Silver Slugger awards
Posted by: | CommentsYesterday afternoon, to nearly no fanfare, Major League Baseball announced the winners of the 2009 Silver Slugger awards. Among the American League winners were Mark Teixeira and Derek Jeter, and the rest were your typical mix of good hitters, popular players and Torii Hunter. No one wrote a 900-word rant on Baseball Prospectus about the inanities of the awards; no one on The Book Blog wrote a sarcastic press release about the awards. They were simply ignored.
So my question is this: Why do so many get up in arms over Gold Gloves and not just ignore them as we do the Silver Sluggers? Both awards are fatally flawed; the winners are chosen by the coaches and managers in each league and not by people who are either more neutral or exposed to more games by the simple fact that they’re not on the field. The selection process doesn’t make sense, and the awards are basically industry recognition of popularity and a job decently well done. It’s hardly a coincidence that six players in the AL won both Silver Sluggers and Gold Gloves. These aren’t objective awards; they aren’t meant to be; and everyone should just come to grips with that reality.
Rumor du jour: Extending Derek Jeter
Posted by: | CommentsThe Internet can be a dangerous place during the Hot Stove League. Anyone with a computer and an idea can start a rumor, and it’s tough to know what information is reliable and accurate and what is not. Even established reporters — Jon Heyman comes to mind — tend to tie teams to many available big names, and we’re left trying to sort out noise from reality.
Late last night, we came upon an update on Twitter from someone who calls herself TheSportsDiva23 and with the initials SW. This person says she covers the Yankees but cannot reveal her name. After an extensive look back through her 2400 updates, we felt comfortable enough mentioning this update not so much to report it as a bona fide rumor but to use it as a starting point for a discussion on Derek Jeter.
First, the rumors: According to two posts on this person’s Twitter timeline (1, 2), the Yankees may be gearing up to offer Derek Jeter a three-year deal worth $60 million. Supposedly, this deal would be wrapped up before Thanksgiving.
We don’t know if this deal would supplant the final year of Jeter’s current contract and extend him for two more seasons at $20 million per. We don’t know if this deal would be a three-year extension to carry Jeter through 2013, his age 39 season. We don’t, in fact, know if we should even trust this source at all.
So then why even mention it all, regular readers of RAB might wonder. After all, we tend to shy away from rumors we don’t believe have legs. Now, this anonymous person’s claim may not have legs, but to extend Derek Jeter is a question we’ve pondered this season. In early September, we noted that the Yanks planned to take care of Jeter but probably wouldn’t — and shouldn’t — extend him until after his contract runs out.
I still believe that the Yanks should wait until after next year to extend Derek Jeter. After all, as a 35-year-old short stop — the oldest player to win a World Series at that position in over half a century — Jeter is ripe for more money than he deserves. He just set the Yanks’ career hits record, and he should place in the top five in the AL MVP voting. Jeter’s agent should want to sign that extension now while the Yanks should want to wait a year.
But let’s say the Yanks would rather not allow their captain to touch free agency and don’t want a lame duck season swirling over their heads. Is a $60 million offer that covers the 2010-2012 period reasonable? For Jeter, those seasons are going to be his ages 36-38 years, but he probably won’t readily move off of short stop. Whether that is a liability or a benefit for the Yanks will depend entirely on Derek’s offense prowess.
Since 2006, Derek has earned a per annum salary of over $20 million. The Yanks, in fact, have doled out approximately $85.4 million over the last four seasons to their captain while getting back $88.8 million in production, according to Fangraphs. To continue to pay him a lofty salary would be to pay him for services rendered and not, at this point in his career, expected return and value. Considering who he is, the Yanks can get away with overpaying Jeter if it comes to it.
And so we’re left with a rumor from an unnamed source we are led to believe is a Twitter account of someone close to the Yankees. If it’s real, indications suggested that it could be Suzyn Waldman; if it’s fake, well, that’s quite an undertaking. Either way, we can still consider if the franchise should extend Jeter now or wait until after next year.
In the end, I take the rumor with a giant grain of salt and assume, until we start to hear otherwise, that it has no legs. But those in charge of the Yankees are probably giving some thought to re-upping with Derek Jeter now. His asking price might be too high, but he’s going to get overpaid no matter what. Better, perhaps, to get it over with.
Jeter, Teixeira take home Gold Gloves
Posted by: | CommentsAlthough the Gold Glove award is one of the least objective awards handed out in baseball, it’s still some postseason hardware, and considering the Yanks’ defensive woes in recent years, it’s nice to see some Bombers win. Derek Jeter and Mark Teixeira have both taken home Gold Glove awards today for their respective decisions. Jeter, not known for his defense, some improved range at short this year and now owns four Gold Gloves. This is Teixeira’s third. The rest of the winners and, eventually, the voting results can be found here at MLB.com.
That’s never happened before
Posted by: | CommentsUpdate: Once again, Baggarly is wrong. Thanks to commenter Alex for pointing it out. After escalators, Manny Ramirez was the highest paid player in 2004 and won the World Series. That’s twice now for Baggarly.
Because baseball loves its stats, and because the Elias Sports Bureau keeps every stat imaginable, we often hear off-beat statistical happenings. Player A is hitting .345 in the second half in night games, for instance. We also get historical milestones, such as, Player B was the first Panama-born player to record six straight outs in Game 6 of the World Series. Of the many that surfaced this year regarding the Yankees, one got more airtime than others: no team has won a World Series with a 35-year-old shortstop since 1955. Sure enough, it happened again in 2009.
The 2009 Yankees had another first-time-in-a-long-time milestone as well. According to Andrew Baggarly*, the last time the World Series champions also had the highest paid player in the game was the ‘86 Mets. They had Gary Carter at $2.8 million, less than a tenth of A-Rod’s 2009 salary. All of this is a friendly reminder to not think that just because something hasn’t happened in a while that there’s some causal reason for it.
Hat tip to Pinto for the pointers.
* I will never be able to hear Baggarly’s name and not think back to this report. He ran with an unconfirmed rumor that “Sabathia has declined the Yankees’ six-year, $140 million offer.” While that might have technically been true — Sabathia ended up signing for more — it was just horrible timing on Baggarly’s part. Cashman flew to San Francisco that very night and got to work on Sabathia’s contract.
A man and his bridge
Posted by: | CommentsIt’s only a matter of time before Derek Jeter is somehow immortalized in New York. Surely he’ll get his plaque in Monument Park. Maybe he’ll get a street named after him, or a wing in a hospital or something like that. But what about a bridge?
Bronx leaders are trying to get the soon-to-be-built East 153rd St. bridge named after the Yankee captain, with borough president Ruben Diaz Jr. saying “There have been conversations at the community board, and I know the idea is being examined. The 512-ft long bridge will connect the Metro North tracks at East 153rd St. and Grand Concourse.
It’s not quite the Joe D. Highway, but pretty cool nonetheless.
The Derek Jeter bunt
Posted by: | CommentsIn the bottom of the 7th of Game 2, the Yankees had the Phillies on the ropes. With two runs already in, the Yanks had no outs and the top of the order coming up. Although Johnny Damon’s umpire-assisted double play drew most of the attention, the batter before deserves a look.
We know what was going to happen when Derek Jeter came to the plate with no out and runners on first and second. We knew what was going to happen because we’ve seen it so many times this season. We’ve watched the Yankees’ all-time hitter — a guy with 2747 career hits, a .317 career batting average with a .388 on-base percentage, and someone who hits exceptional well in the playoffs — come to bat with runners on and take it upon himself to bunt.
What Derek did on Thursday night defies stupidity. He tried to bunt twice and missed both times. Then, with the count 0-2 against him, he bunted again. This one rolled foul, and the Yankees’ leadoff hitter had bunted his walk to a strike out. As the Yanks did not plate another run that inning, it could have proved costly.
Yesterday, Joe Posnanski took Jeter to task for the bunt. Because Posnanski has a way with words and images, take a read:
Jeter would later admit in his own understated way that it was dumb to try and bunt there (he bunted foul for strike three), but, of course, “dumb” doesn’t begin to cover the lunacy of that bunt attempt. It is dumb to send an insulting text message to the insult-target by mistake. It is dumb for the Coyote to keep buying his Road Runner hunting products from the Acme Corporation. It is dumb to pull on Superman’s cape, to spit in the wind, to tell Batman your villainous plan when you have him captured, to give Gilligan some sort of meaningful role the rescue mission. That bunt wasn’t dumb. It was closer to a nervous breakdown.
Posnanski goes on to question the Yanks’ belief in Jeter a bit. He believes that Girardi initially called the bunt but later called it off too. Jeter, then, tried to bunt for the third time on his own:
And undoubtedly, Jeter believes this himself. That’s the only possible reason he would have tried to bunt with two strikes, even after Girardi called it off. Jeter wants to sacrifice himself there, I think, because he believes sacrifice is a big part of what makes him great and different. Would A-Rod bunt there? Would Miggy Cabrera? Would Manny Ramirez? Would Albert Pujols? No (nor should they). They would not bunt … but Derek Jeter would. Because he is not just a great hitter. No, he’s a guy who would do anything to help the team win.
Trouble is — he IS a great hitter, and hitting is the best way he can help the team win — in that situation and in pretty much every other situation. He should know this. The Yankees should know this. But the Jeter mystique has been blown up to such proportions that it has become its own monster, and monsters need to be fed.
When I saw Derek Jeter foul bunt on strike three like some helpless pitcher, I immediately thought it was one of the five dumbest plays I had ever seen — and I know I would have felt that way had he gotten the bunt down.
He concludes: “After all these years, the Yankees still don’t seem to full understand or appreciate why Derek Jeter is one of the great players his generation. And what’s even stranger is that Jeter may not be entirely sure himself.”
I’m not sure I fully support his final argument. I’m sure the Yankees understand and appreciate Derek Jeter as one of the greatest players of his generation. What the Yankees do not seem to understand and what Derek definitely doesn’t understand is that bunting in that situation is sheer lunacy. It doesn’t increase the team’s chances of scoring multiple runs, and it gives the Phillies an extra out, that ever-important currency of a game that lasts just 27 outs. It took the bat out of the hands of one of October’s most prolific hitters and gave the Phillies in opportunity to escape the inning.
And you know what? Derek won’t bunt with two strikes again. But if faced with the same circumstances tonight, if he comes up with runners on first and second with no one out, Derek and the Yanks will do it all over again.
Jeter earns Clemente Award for Turn 2 work
Posted by: | CommentsThis news got lost in the build-up to Game 2 last night, but it’s definitely worth a look today. Major League Baseball awarded Yankee captain Derek Jeter with the Roberto Clemente Award for his community service work. The award recognizes one player each year who “combines a dedication to giving back to the community with outstanding skills on the baseball field.” Jeter established his Turn 2 Foundation when he was a rookie in 1996, and today, the program is going strong under the auspices of Derek and his sister Sharlee. It has to do with community work and giving back to the community,” Jeter said yesterday in the press conference. “I think people in our position should take advantage of it. They should try to give back as much as possible. I know I’m being awarded for this right now, but there’s a lot of players that give back to the community, and I think everyone should be commended for that.”
As part of the coverage of the award, Mark Newman from MLB.com wrote an extensive profile of Jeter and the Turn 2 Foundation. I definitely recommend that article. Newman really conveys the sense that Jeter, Sharlee and their parents are very devoted to the work they do. We see the great baseball side of Derek every day, and Major League Baseball reminded us yesterday that there is far more to him than just his play at short.
Dissent in the ranks over Molina-gate
Posted by: | CommentsFor 12 years, the stories about Derek Jeter and Joe Torre told a tale of deference. Jeter, a rookie during Torre’s first year in the Bronx, had a special bond with his manager. He would call him Mr. Torre and rarely, if ever, questioned his decisions in public.
While Torre was managing the Yanks, Jeter played with a back-up catcher named Joe Girardi. Jeter and Girardi captured three rings together, but for Derek, Girardi’s presence on the team and his amount of playing time must have raised an eyebrow or two. After all, the Yankees had Derek’s very good friend Jorge Posada, a far superior offensive catcher to Joe Girardi. In the end, of course, it mattered little, as the Yanks plowed through the opposition during the latter half of the 1990s.
Today, Joe Girardi is Derek’s manager, and for the first time in a while, Jeter is publicly questioning the man who holds the Yanks’ reins. When asked about Girardi’s decision to start Jose Molina in A.J. Burnett’s starts, Jeter had a diplomatically loaded answer. As Jim Baumbach first reported yesterday, Jeter called the situation strange. “It will be kind of awkward not having Jorge in the lineup,” he said.
For Derek, the Yanks’ loyal solider and all around good guy at handling the media, that statement amounts to sheer mutiny. As Baumbach and others have pointed out, Jeter’s statement is also a bit hyperbolic. Posada wasn’t the only catcher during the Yanks’ World Series years, and as recently as 2005, Joe Torre used John Flaherty to catch the ornery Randy Johnson. The Unit lasted just three innings in a disastrous Game 3 start, and Jorge quickly entered the game in the 4th.
I have to wonder then if Joe Girardi is risking his respect by making an unpopular and questionable decision. Does Derek Jeter think Girardi is off his rocker? What about the other younger players who look to Jeter for leadership? Ken Davidoff claims all was calm at Yankee camp yesterday and offers us some translations of the players’ sound bites. Derek, he claims, is just trying to keep Jorge happy while not offending his manager, and Jorge has accepted it.
In a way, then, this move is certainly an experiment. If Burnett comes out and dominates the Twins and the Yanks handily win as they did on Wednesday, Joe Girardi will look good — or at least he won’t be subject to rampant first- and second-guessing. But if Burnett struggles through a start, those around the club — those whose respect Girardi needs — may wonder about the decision. Ken Davidoff doesn’t expect Molina-gate to “blow up these Yankees.” Here’s to hoping.
Jeter’s hard work led to defensive improvement
Posted by: | CommentsWhile composing the ALDS preview, two things stood out. FIrst, that Joe Mauer got to 600 plate appearances despite missing almost a month. Second, that Derek Jeter had a positive UZR. He was at 5.3, fifth best among AL shortstops with at least 800 innings. Never before in his career had Jeter been in the black, though he came close in 2008. There are no complaints from the peanut gallery on this issue. We all saw Jeter play markedly improved defense this season.
I do not like Ian O’Connor. No one who disseminates his views about baseball to the masses should ever come close to thinking that the Yankees would better with Cody Ransom over A-Rod. It is, without a doubt, the dumbest thing written about baseball all year, possibly all decade. Worse, his newspaper removed the article from the Internet (but blogs lack accountability). So when I cite his recent column, you know there’s something good within. (With a hat tip to Neyer — I couldn’t find this on my own.)
We know Jeter’s defense has improved, and we know he has worked with a conditioning coach for the past two years so that he can stay at his first and only position for a few more years. O’Connor’s column goes a bit deeper into the role Jason Riley, the trainer. He noticed right away that Jeter was stronger and more flexible in his right hip than his left, “not uncommon for a ballplayer hitting and throwing from the right side.” This caught my eye because it seems so basic. It’s like doing curls with just one arm. It makes me wonder how many ballplayers neglect balance in their training.
A quote from Riley also caught my eye:
“We were re-coaching his first step, over and over. … I think he hated doing these drills at first, because it’s almost like reeducating a little kid. An accomplished athlete is like, ‘I don’t want to do this because it makes me look stupid.’ And then suddenly, Derek was killing those drills.”
That story reminds me of Shaq’s refusal to shoot free throws underhanded. Rick Barry, who made 90 percent of his career free throws, offered to teach Shaq, but the big man declined, saying it would hurt his image. Sometimes doing things better isn’t pretty. It probably wasn’t easy for Derek to stick with these basic drills. Then again, an audience of thousands wasn’t watching him at Athletes Compound.
Like most features on Derek Jeter, O’Connor’s is filled with praise — not only from the writer, but from Riley as well. It seems that anyone who meets Jeter can’t help but like him. It’s about the only depiction of him I’ve ever read.
One more training story, for the road:
“His work ethic is unbelievable. One day we’re doing crossover movements for base-stealing mechanics, and at the end of the workout he was close to getting it right, but not quite.
“I told him to shut it down for the day, but he said, ‘No, I can tell you’re not happy about it.’ We ended up doing another 10 or 15 sprints before I had to stop him for fear he’d injure himself.”
Derek Jeter is the kind of boy every girl dreams of. Good looking, smart, and funny. Yes, that’s Zack Morris Derek Jeter.
