Daily Archives: August 1, 2003

Derek Jeterís Rating

By Bronx Banter correspondent, Christopher DeRosa

Derek Jeterís up to .324/.394/.464 now, and itís been, oh, a day or two since Iíve heard how overrated he is.

When Jeter struggled back from his shoulder injury, the Yankees played some of their worst ball in recent memory. He wasnít hitting, and instead of fielding ground balls, he was yucking it up with George in a Visa commercial. At the beginning of the July, somebody sent me Page 2ís list of the ten most overrated athletes. Derek Jeter was #3. The failings of the new Yankee Captain afield were suddenly visible enough for the story of his overratedness to crest. That was probably pretty gratifying for some in the sabermetric community who have for years bewailed Jeterís reputation as a superstar, or clutch player, or winner, or whatever.

Iíd like talk a bit about Jeterís rating, but first off, let me recognize that there are more than two positions in the debate. There are:

1. The people who think Jeter can do no wrong, possesses magical abilities, and is better than A-Rod.
2. The people who know A-Rodís better, but still count Jeter among the elite.
3. The people who think Jeterís good, while understanding that heís a not a good fielder.
4. The people who think heís first and foremost a lousy shortstop, but still a decent player in other ways.
5. The people who think Jeter sucks, resent that girls like him, and hate the Yankees.

Grouping the opinions of 2, 3, and 4 with those of 1 or 5 tends to emotionalize the issue, so let me state up front that though a fan of Jeter, I can see that most of his critics are just trying to evaluate a player as honestly as they can, and get irked when they think a player has an inflated reputation. My premise here is that a player can be praised up and down without really being overrated.

The opinion that Derek Jeter is overrated is common, and fast approaching Point Rudi, when the people convinced of a playerís under- or overrated-ness out-number the holders of the original perception. If you made an all star team of the players whose overrated-ness has upset the most people, Jeter would probably be in the starting line-up, along with Steve Garvey and Pete Rose (although I donít know that he could move Phil Rizzuto off the shortstop position, what with his awful range and all).

Hell, Baseball Prospectus wanted to move him to third after the 1998 season. The idea that Jeter is a good fielder seems limited to Yankee broadcasters John Sterling (radio) and Michael Kay (YES). Iíve even read several accounts of how Jeterís shovel pass in the 9-6-2 that nipped Jeremy Giambi at the plate in the 2001 Division Series was really an example of his poor play, either because he was actually supposed to be covering second base, or because he interfered with an accurate throw by Shane Spencer. One of my friends compares Jeter to David Beckham (I know thatís a put-down but Iím not quite sure how bad). People are not reluctant to criticize this guy. Itís not a revelation to say heís overrated, itís an old refrain. The very fact that you are right now having an encounter with Jeter-is-Overrated Backlash should tell you that this is a notion in general circulation. Who has inspired all this comment though? Who is doing the overrating?

Is it the traditional sportswriters? When Jeter arguably deserved the MVP award in 1999, the writers voted five players ahead of him.

How about the fans? The fans have never elected Jeter to the All Star team. In 1999, the year Alex Rodriquez was injured and Jeter was playing his best ball, the fans elected Nomar Garciaparra

SI’s senior baseball writer Tom Verducci weighs in on the trade-deadline activity:

“Give the Red Sox credit. They put the heat on the Yankees. Boston hasn’t been this close to New York in the standings this late in the season since the Yankees started winning championships in the Joe Torre era. The Red Sox have definitely improved themselves, especially in the bullpen. They upped the ante on New York, and I think the Yankees got caught up in the atmosphere of holding off Boston. And the Yankees should be worried about the Red Sox. There was a little more urgency for New York to get a deal done this week than in past years.”

Former YankeeJeff Nelson, never shy about expressing his opinions, let Mariners GM “Stand” Pat Gillick have it after the M’s failure to make a deadline trade:

“It’s frustrating for everybody in here, and it should be frustrating for the people who go out there and pay for tickets and pay these outrageous prices at these concession stands,” the veteran reliever said. “They deserve a winner. Seattle, I think the whole city is aching for a winner, either the Seahawks, the Sonics or the Mariners. We have an opportunity to do that, and it’s just unfortunate we didn’t make a move.

“We have a good team, and we’re in first place by four games. You watch these other contending teams — New York, Boston, Oakland, Chicago — they’re very good teams as well, but they want to be better. And they better themselves by going out and making these trades. It’s tough to sit here year after year and watch this team not do things to better themselves.

“I’ve never seen an impact player come to this team (at the trade deadline), nor have they ever seemed to go out and try to get one. Every year it’s, ‘Oh, we tried to make moves, we tried to make moves,’ but other teams seem to do it.”

Meanwhile, hold everything: Louie and the D-Rays went 14-12 in July. How sweet it is…

Theo Epstein’s pop, Leslie Epstein, is an academic with an attitude against the Yankees. He’s rooted against them for years, and raised his kids to loath them too. Like many Yankee-haters—especially of an older generation—Mr. Epstein looks at the Bombers as the essence of corporate, Republican America:

“Is it true Steinbrenner summoned all of them down to Tampa?” Leslie wondered after hearing about the Boss’ meeting of the minions in Florida this week. “He must be asking them, ‘How come this little jerk is making you guys look like fools?’ They wanted both Scotts (Williamson and Sauerbeck), and we got them. We’re supposed to have the depleted farm system, right? What’s going on here?

“I don’t like to gloat over (Brian) Cashman getting reamed by his boss, because I know he’s a good guy, but if Darth Vader The Convicted Felon should be discomforted, well, it pleases me to no end. … The fact that my son is part of doing that to him is even better.”

You got to love it when the eggheads get personal.

Think the next two months will be exciting, if not histrionic?

The Yankees drew 11 walks last night, and stranded most of them on base. Though New York left 12 runners on (the Angels left 8), Nick Johnson smacked an RBI single off a Troy Percival heater in the 10th inning, and the Yanks beat the Angels,2-1. The Yanks swept the World Champs and gained another game on Boston who were busy losing an extra-inning affair of their own. Boomer Wells pitched well, and Armando Benitez got out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the eighth (he got the win, Rivera the save).

After losing to the Angels in the playoffs last year, it sure is nice to spank the World Champs, who are not even playing .500 ball.

Meanwhile, Pedro Martinez left after six innings last night in Texas trailing, 3-2. Trot Nixon tied the game with a homer in the ninth, and B.Y. Kim threw three scoreless innings. But Buster Olney’s boy, Alex Rodriguez crushed a grand salami off of Todd Jones in the 11th to give Texas the win. The Yanks lead is now three-and-a-half games.

The Bombers head to Oakland to face The Big Three this weekend. Mussina v. Hudson to start it off tonight. Should be worth the price of admission.

It was interesting to see the reaction to the Aaron Boone trade yesterday. Around my office, the Mets fans rolled their eyes with envy and said, ‘The Yankees get whatever they want.’ The fact that the Bombers had to part with their top pitching prospect didn’t seem to faze them in the slightest. Meanwhile, many Yankee fans seemed to react with anger and frustration. ‘Why did we need to get rid of Claussen for a third baseman? What about a right fielder?’

Then there was some sadness surrounding Robin Ventura’s departure. Ventura, the laconic team comedian, was very well-liked with the fans, and his personality will be missed.

“I’d say I’m disappointed,” Ventura said. “It’s a great place to play, the guys are great, Joe and his staff are great . . . It’s a special place.”

I’ve always liked Ventura more as a person—though I’ve never met him, of course—than as a ballplayer, though he was a solid defender with a good hitting-eye. His best days are clearly behind him. But it was hard to break the news to my friend Mindy, who simply adores him.

I was exhausted by the time the deal was finally announced yesterday. Following the trade rumors since Tuesday, I felt like a kid on a junk-food high. By 4:00 pm, I crashed. I was bemused when I first heard the Boone rumor, and then melancholy. I understand the anger that Jay Jaffe (who has another impressive critique this morning at Futility Infielder) and others feel towards the deal, but after rooting for the Yankees for 25-some odd years, I’ve developed a thick skin for this kind of move. They make me feel weary more than anything else. I’m resigned to the fact that George makes moves like this in his sleep, and that he’s made far worse trades in the past.

If this is the cross Yankee fans have to bear—gluttony and stupidity—so be it. It’s the kind of problem most fans would love to have. Of course, I would have liked to see Claussen develop in a Yankee uniform. It’s a nice fantasy.

Still, the New York media almost uniformly agrees this was a superfluous and panicky deal by Boss George and co. A reaction to the nifty trades Boston has made all season. Here is what some of the heavy-hitters have to say about it: Sherman, Madden, Lupica, and Jack Curry.

Here are some of Rob Neyer’s impressions on the deal, which were posted in his chat session yesterday:

“As for what the Yankees gave up to get Boone, 1) they never give young pitchers a chance, anyway, and 2) Claussen has a great arm, but he’s coming off Tommy John surgery and has just 39 K’s in 69 innings this season.

…I don’t think they’re thinking about the long haul. If [Jeff] Weaver works out, great. If he doesn’t, they can always sign a free agent or trade for somebody’s high-priced veteran. When your budget is unlimited, you don’t have to worry about next year

…They’re a tad soft in right field, but essentially the Yankees are now without a single weakness. Which doesn’t mean the Sox are sunk, of course. They have to beat out either the Yankees or the A’s/M’s. And I think they will.”

Aaron Boone is no Brian Giles, but from what I’ve heard he’s an animated and spirited player; a younger, more powerful Scott Brosius. (According to The Post, the Yanks could have had Giles for Claussen, Nick Johnson, Juan Rivera, and minor-league pitcher, Chien-Ming Wang. The asking price was too steep for New York, but which trade would you have made?)

If Boone’s a true gamer, he won’t have any troubles with the New York fans. I want to like him, even if the trade does leave me feeling hung-over.