Comments on: Derek Jeter’s Contract is a Rorschach Blot

By: MichiganYankee

MichiganYankee — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 18:04:56 +0000

The case that I dread is that Jeter’s decline will come faster than projected, that he will become an automatic out. Yankee fans were not afraid to boo Jeter when he had a month-long slump a few years ago. They certainly will not restrain themselves from expressing their displeasure if the slump lasts half a season. If Jeter bottoms out in year 3, we’ll be able to grin and bear it. But if it happens in year 2, it will be painful.

By: Yankster

Yankster — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 02:33:57 +0000

As a fan, winning championships is what it’s about. But don’t for a second think that’s how either side of the professionals think about it. Baseball is entertainment and only entertainment. And in entertainment personalities matter. Actors that are stars but can’t act for crap like Harrison Ford still have huge value because its not about skills. In my opinion, Jeter is one of the most bankable reliable on field personalities in baseball. Not only that, he’s likely to last longer than his playing days as a baseball character. And the Yankees naively made it out to be about his on field qualifications. That strikes me as “baffling” too. This is showbiz, and in showbiz the House pays the Star a lot of money to validate the Stars importance. They certainly never ever do it because they’re worth it. The only one who botched this process was Close. If the Yankees wanted scorched earth, he should have outlined what was coming next, a full tell-all book with a 10 million advance, for starters. A round on the talk shows about how limited the yankees owners intelligence and character really is. Thats how they did it in show biz and that’s how Jeter should have leveled the field. His stats are absurdly irrelevant to his compensation. The on field player comparables are absurd too. Jeter stayed classy but I have to admit that I chuckle thinking about the eventual potential payback. Can’t wait to hear about the next time Cashman slaps Jeter on the ass and says, “go get im tiger.” His ridiculous elf head is unlikely to stay attached to his very long. At least in my imagination.

By: monkeypants

monkeypants — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 01:00:40 +0000

[17] I’ll never be ready to crucify Jeter…just like I never wanted to crucify Bernie. Rather, I will crucify the manager who does not do his job by putting out the best lineup even if that means moving Jeter down or benching him.

By: OldYanksFan

OldYanksFan — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 00:06:48 +0000

Mike Vaccaro was very right, and this whole thing hurt Jeter a lot. Remember this blog during the year, with cries to move Jeter down in the order, or sit him down, or ‘another dish of pastadivingjeter’, and yet another DP, and ‘gee, wow… another weak grounder to short , what a surprise?’.

I hope Jeter’s play comes back. I do. But if he continues decline, WE will be the first to crucify him. Girardi afraid to bench $17m? Cash and Co. with another crappy contract? And it will go on and on.

Jeter might be a hero to some, but everyone will turn on him if he plays poorly. Had he simply accepted the $45m and thanked the Yankees for their consideration, a decline would have gone easier on him. But now, these crazy demands will be with us for years.

Yeah… maybe we should have given him 6/$150m…..
Yeah… I’ll just squeeze my eyes and pretend it’s 1999…..
Yeah… Nunez and $51m looks VERY good now…..

and on and on. Just wait. I hope it doesn’t happen, meaning Jeter will post at least decent numbers. But if not…. LOOK OUT! It WILL be ugly!

By: omarcoming

omarcoming — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:57:45 +0000

Why did anyone,fans or media, give this whole non story any space or thought?

By: RIYank

RIYank — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:27:02 +0000

Will, can you get me a root beer please? There’s $45 Mil in it for you.

Oh, man, sorry, I take it back. Didn’t mean to insult you. Forget it.

By: JohnnyC

JohnnyC — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 23:08:27 +0000

[13] Casey Kelly is half the man he used to be today.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 22:25:09 +0000

[8] In a lot of ways, it reminds me of the Red Sox policy of having Gammons trash the hell out of everyone on their way out the door.

By: Chyll Will

Chyll Will — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:59:58 +0000

All I know is I’m looking forward to the day someone insults me with a $45 million offer for anything. Well, maybe my soul, but that goes without saying.

By: Emma Span

Emma Span — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:38:06 +0000

[7] Ben, Close denied the highest rumored request — the $150-some million one — but not the subsequent reports that Jeter wanted 5 or 6 years at around $23 million per.

Of course, just because he didn’t deny it doesn’t mean it was true… and for that matter just because he DID deny the first rumor, doesn’t mean it wasn’t.

By: Dimelo

Dimelo — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:28:55 +0000

[2] Agreed. Well put.

By: Jon DeRosa

Jon DeRosa — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:25:29 +0000

[0] I was at first surprised that Jeter was asking for so much (let’s it was over 20 mill a year for 5 years or whatever).

Whether we’re right or wrong about his projections, WAR value and decline years, I think it’s safe to say our stats-based outlook is far from Jeter’s own.

He’s more likely thinking, “in 2009, I was hella-awesome, we won, and then I had a bad year. I’ll be back to normal next year.” The value for him being awesome would still be pretty high, and he thinks it’s likely, so he thinks he should get paid for that value.

Right now, the market is coming around to getting smarter about these things, so Cashman felt secure in letting him see what he could get out there. But all the “reality potion” nonsense was overboard.

I WANT Jeter to be delusional. He needs to have that sky-high confidence if he wants to achieve high levels at this advanced age. I don’t want him logging onto FanGraphs and checking his projections…

By: ms october

ms october — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:25:17 +0000

[4] yes, agreed matt. i left this out of my first comment, but i do think the way the yankees handle negotiations is not cool. i understand they don’t want to “overpay,” but just stfu and keep the negotiations private and the personal attacks out of the process.

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:22:04 +0000

Did Close ever say that they wanted 23 bazillion dollars or was that the Yankees saying what he was saying, as Lupica portrays?

By: Emma Span

Emma Span — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:18:40 +0000

[4] Yes, but “drink the reality potion” came from an “unnamed source close to the negotiations” — it wasn’t Brian Cashman saying that to reporters (well, as far as we know).

By: ms october

ms october — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:13:40 +0000

[3] haha. though how many people say that to themselves?
and regardless of what hank says, his net worth is far greater than anyone on the yankees and his only “skill” is being a steinbrenner.

By: Mattpat11

Mattpat11 — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:12:39 +0000

I think “Drink the reality potion” was needlessly mean spirited. If Casey Close responded with “Does Cashman want to spend the savings on yet another one of his seemingly endless line of pitching busts?” people would have flipped their lids, because it would have been completely out of line to say that to the public. They were trying to humiliate him for reasons I don’t fully understand.

I think the “new Yankees” of the last 13 months or so have rubbed me the wrong way. Regardless of whether or not they should have come back, the total dismissal of Matsui bothered me, and the Damon fiasco never made any sense to me, especially when we never bothered to get someone to replace them.

By: Emma Span

Emma Span — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 20:06:16 +0000

[2] I pretty much agree with you. Although while it’s true that few of us say “Tom is much better at filling out spreadsheets than me, of course he should get the bigger raise,” it’s also true that we don’t say “I’m so good at filing spreadsheets, I should be making more than the CEO, guaranteed until I’m 70.”

(Not an exact comparison, obviously…)

By: ms october

ms october — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:55:18 +0000

i don’t think the contract is off for either the yankees or jeter.

if we are supposed to be in this free market capitalist system, i think athletes should be able ask for as much as they want.
i also think it is unreasonable for us to expect them to assess themselves – that’s not their job. very few of us say “oh yes, tom is much better at filling out spreadsheets than me, of course he should get the bigger raise.” and moreover, part of being a competitive athlete is thinking you are the best ss or whatever.

i’m glad this process is over and am ready for lupica and the rest of these assholes to move on to the next big travesty.

By: rbj

rbj — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 19:39:49 +0000

For me, it’s not about the $s, it’s the years. 3 years sounds about right, we just have no real way of knowing how Derek will age over the next 3 years.