Captain Clutch or Captain Crutch?

Derek Jeter...A season to remember???

As any baseball fan, with some knowledge of the game knows, Derek Jeter has been the face of New York Yankees baseball for over the past decade. Jeter is the captain of the best baseball team known to man, with more championships than any other (25% of all world series titles) and more than the next three teams combined (Cardinals -10, A’s -9, Red Sox – 7).


Over the years, NY sports fans have been accustomed to Jeter getting the big hit when it counts, or making the big play (see “the flip”). However, despite starting off the 2010 in is patented Jetarian style, Derek has had an offensive season to forget.

Going into the stretch run of the 2010 playoff push, Jeter is batting an unimpressive .268, with a .328 OBP. These numbers, combined with his proficiency into hitting into double plays, have somewhat softened the Yankees potent offense, while cutting rallies short and limiting scoring opportunities. Combine this low average with the fact that he appears to be well below his career averages in homers (17) and RBIs (80) and it looks like Jeter may soon be facing the end of his playing career.

The end in sight?

Not one time since his rookie year has Jeter ever batted under .290 for a season (career .314), and despite his lackluster performance at the plate this year, at 36, he appears to have hopefully a few more years left in him. The Yankees drafted what they are hoping to be the future of their infield with SS picks in the first and second rounds (see Cito Culver and Angelo Gumbs). These players are still light-years away from seeing any Major League action, and when you combine that with Jeter’s stellar defensive year (6 errors through 137 games), it appears that he may still have some more years to go wearing pin stripes.

The question rattling around in my brain is…Will the Yankees keep paying Jeter the big bucks if he can’t perform. With contract negotiations looming after this season, I cannot imagine how the Yankees would be willing to (A) part with Jeter or (B) Pay him the $22.6mm that he is currently getting. It is obvious that, there will need to be some type of mutual agreement here and my hope is that both the Yankees and Jeter realize that there is still some value in their relationship, just at a lower price.

Make no mistakes about it. Jeter wants his money, but he is a competitor, and I would bet that he understands that his offensive performance of late is not acceptable and that he would be willing to accept a smaller contract to help bring in some more, big free agent names next year.

Jeter is a Yankee through and through, and though he may be struggling this year, I say that once the cooler post-season air rolls around, you will see him kick it into an extra gear. Let’s not forget, he is Mr. November, a time-tested baseball warrior, the face of a city, and one of the best to ever play his position.