So.......What's he worth?

-- So what is he worth? ... Are we talking batting average? CAREER .314 - Or are we talking hits?  CAREER 2,926 and ALL-TIME Yankees hits leader passing Ruth, Gehrig and DiMaggio - Maybe we're talking runs scored  -1,685 .... Hey? How about runs batted in - 1,356....sacrifice bunts and flies? ...WHO KNOWS.....the list goes on and on.

Who is Derek Jeter? And what's he worth? To who?

For Yankees fans he was a reason to cheer. He was a reason to have faith. He was the reason you thought you had a chance to comeback from a 5 run deficit and tag on a win. He was the only guy Yankee haters "kinda liked".

For 16 years the "DE-REK JE-TER"!!! chants resounded throughout Yankee Stadium. He gave the final speech to send off the House that Ruth Built. A huge honor in itself. He was the face of the Yankees when many and still hate the pinstripes. Still in all, Derek Jeter was the guy you wanted on your team. Whether it was the Yankees, the Dodgers, the Cardinals or the Tampa Bay Rays.  D.J was the guy. Love him or hate him. You respected number 2.

B.J. Upton and Hanley Ramirez both wear the number 2 because of Jeter. That's high praise when both players are regarded as one of the best at their respective positions.

Jeter's heroics in the late 90's and early 2000s have landed him in baseball royalty. He's also influenced alot of present stars.


So when it's all said and done it will be Yankees fans who win. Not because of the money or the specifics of the contract but because the fans actually matter in this drawn out chess match. Yankee fans get to see a rarity in sports. A guy who's "home grown" and not only a fixture but a player who's a throwback.

I listen to my dad and grandfather talk about Mantle, Clemente and Mays...Bob Gibson, Koufax and Walter Johnson.....what do they have in common?
They played the game "the right way". That term or phrase gets thrown around(I just did it) alot nowadays. But it's true.

Jeter is of that ilk. He doesn't hit the most homeruns or drive in the most runs but he's at the ball park day in and day out.
The biggest compliment I heard from baseball legend Peter Gammon was "Derek Jeter is the guy you want your kid to watch warming up and play the game" ...nuff said.
I've been to roughly 20 Yankee games in my lifetime and the two guys I watched were Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter.
Both will be Yankees forever..I hope.

Number 2 is a Yankee staple ... and the face of the world's most renowned franchise.


Sure his range has diminished even though he never had much to begin with. He can't hit 30 homeruns as a DH because heck, he never did. What Derek Jeter brings to the Yankees is incomparable and immeasurable by any single stat. The guy is the face of the world's most renowned franchise. He's respected by his peers and managers. A former Blue Jays first base coach once said "You can hear Jeter running down the first bas line after every groundball hit and I expect the same from our guys". He has led by example.

It's not a matter of IF but a matter of WHEN. Hopefully this gets resolved sooner rather than later because the last thing the Yankees' brass, Jeter and most importantly their fans wants is a bitter shortstop. The whole Yankee dynamic will change for the worst. They need to hold on to the guy that is the one player that everyone regardless if you're in Kansas, North Dakota, LA or New York can agree on. It makes all the dollars and sense in the world.