Thoughts on Jeter

So let me get this straight. The Yankees, the team with an endless supply of money, no budget and a team that goes shopping during the offseason like teenage girls who get daddys credit card are now strong arming the most famous homegrown* Yankee since Mickey Mantle?
*= I think he’s the most famous Yankee since Mantle only because I can’t stand Reggie Jackson. Not like I know his career like the back of my hand, but for what its worth, Jeter is a much better clutch guy and a much better teammate than Mr October ever was. Plus, Jeter’s nickname is Mr November so he’s one upped him already.

Huh? Wasn’t this supposed to be a done deal? Jeter is supposed to be a Yankee and the Yankees always takes care of their own. Right?

For what its worth, I think Jeter isn’t the player he once was regardless of what award he gets.*
*= haters like me discount the fact that he had the highest fielding percentage for his position in the majors. The majority of people blasting the decision are stat geeks who swear by the “fielding bible” and other statistical measures and who have never liked Jeters defense in the first place. But we can’t even say that stat geeks are taking over due to Jeter getting the gold glove. This award was the old guard’s last stand against these stat geeks who won a major victory when a guy who won 13 games and lost 12 and never pitched a single game under the bright lights of a pennant chase won THE Cy Young award.

But the discussion isn’t about Jeters defense, its about how much he’s worth to a team that prints money for a living. Who takes on the $250 million contract of A-Rod’s because its their back up plan and then, bidding against the mirror gives him a deal that could potentially reach $300 million.

And that’s where I think the communication gap lies. That one contract is coming back to haunt the Yankees as it should. When Texas originally gave A-Rod the $250 million contract and made him the highest paid player in all of sports, they were destroyed in the media for ruining sports basically. When the Yankees gave A-Rod his contract, one that runs through age 42, it was a reminder that the Yankees can do what they want. The difference is HUGE and plays into present day negotiations.

The factor here shows that Jeter

So what does Jeter want exactly? That’s hard to say. Jeter’s agent Casey Close* wanted only two things from these negotiations: that the Yankees recognize Jeter’s value to the organization and that these proceedings be done privately minus the media.
*= people always assume that when negotiations are tough with a star player that it automatically means the player’s agent must be Scott Boras. He’s only the standard bearer of drawn out negotiations.

Unfortunately that isn’t the case. In fact the Yankees have gone beyond that. They have leaked” Jeter’s demands” (6 Years/$150 million?)and the biggest blow: tell Jeter that if he didn’t think the Yankee offer would suffice to test the free agent market and see what he could get.

These negotiations are completely about pride. The Yankees know they are going to overpay for Jeter. Jeter realizes that despite his want to play till 42 like A-Rod (if you think the fued is over because they won a championship then you don’t know anything), he won’t get the chance. So somewhere there is a middle ground to be reached.

The most sensible* is 4 year $80 million with escalator clauses that can push the total value of this deal to $90 million.**
*=and I use the word sensible VERY loosely.
**= Jeter is almost 90 hits shy of 3,000 which would remarkably make him the first Yankee to have that many hits as a Yankee. Then there’s 4,000 hits which Jeter certainly wants to reach but won’t in 4 years and perhaps another for reaching a certain number of AB’s.

Yet, the Yankees and Jeter are stuck playing the staring game waiting for the first person to blink. History tells us that it won’t be Jeter. Before signing his just expired contract, Jeter rejected arbitration efforts and strong armed the Yankees into buying out his final year of arbitration and give him a huge deal. Jeter and company are dangerous for one reason: he has an advanced business sense that allows him to see past the crap that the Yankees will throw his way about being selfish and trying to save the Yankees money for other free agents and will ask for what he’s due. For Jeter this is about back pay. Backpay for a guy who just came off a contract that paid him $189 million. Back pay for a guy who over the last 15 years helped rebuild a brand that Steinbrenner almost destroyed with his constant meddling.* Backpay for a guy who played in the midst of the Yankees most lucrative years as a franchise. For a guy who symbolizes the Yankee way and the guy who wears a captain symbol that isn’t given to just anybody wearing pinstripes.
*=isn’t it weird that only at his death that he received the criticism for the way he did things? Even till the day he died, George was feared.

No, it would be foolish to undermine all of that. To risk the future relationship that the Yankees are so good at keeping with their alumni. The Yankees will pay.

What will be the price is the question. What will the Yankees do to honor Jeter? Or has enough damage been done to Jeter for him to take their money yet never trust the franchise he grew up rooting for? He will take the money undoubtedly.

But what will they give up? That is the question. Who will give up what? The Yankees are betrothed to Jeter and vice versa, but the Yankees have the weight of one big contract that Jeter looks at and pridefully is telling himself that he too can do it. He can play till 42. If A-Rod the mercinary for hire is worth $300 million, what is the captain, the face of the franchise worth?

These are the obstacles. Want to know why these negotiations are taking so long? Easy. Its not about numbers or money. Its about pride and that is a part of the equation that has no price. The Yankees are clearly in negotiations that they are uncomfortable with.