Derek Jeter: How I was right all along

RAY STUBBLEBINE/REUTERS

In May I wrote The End of Derek Jeter? I wrote about how expecting him to come back and really play shortstop at all was just wrong. I said that at 39 and coming off a broken ankle he just would not be able to do it and unfortunately I was right. Derek Jeters season ended yesterday and he managed 17 games, 12 hits and had four stints on the DL if you include this one and the one he had coming into the season. I was at both of the first two Jeter returns to Yankee stadium games and in those I managed to see a quarter of his hits on the season, including his only Homerus which just so happened to be four rows in front of where I was sitting. Both those games were fun but even in those games he looked like such a shell of himself and the only time a ball with any authority was when he had his Home run and it was a Yankee stadium dinger. Jeter didn't officially miss the season but really he did and now going into this off season the Yankees are going to have to look at a plan for Shortstop that isn't Derek Jeter. I said before that I though Jeter would be a 100 game DH if they wanted to play him for a full season and now the idea of Jeter playing 50 games in the field seems like wishful thinking. This is on top of the idea that Jeter might very well not play for the Yankees ever again, imagine if Jeter comes into the off season and wants a new contract? The Yankees and Yankees fans love Derek Jeter but if he thinks that the Steinbrenners will open their checkbooks and give him a big new deal then he is nuts.Remember Jeter was overpaid in his last contract and Jeter was upset that he did not get more money. In terms of career accomplishments Jeters resume is littered with them and he currently ranks 10th all time in total hits with 3,316, that's a huge accomplishment and nothing else needs to be said about it. If  Jeter played next year at anything resembling a major league hitter he would probably move above Cap Anson at 6th overall with 3,445 career hits and I guess it really comes down to if he views moving higher and higher on the all time hit list as reason enough to come back next year.
This season really isn't something you can truly blame Jeter for, but his drive to get back on the field as soon as possible likely hurt him more than anything else. He wanted to be ready for opening day, but at 39 he just wasn't physically capable of it and pushing to get back as soon as possible only served to aggravate his injury further which is why he never looked like he was really ready to be back at any point in his brief 17 game season. That push though is who Jeter is and without it you don't really know if he ever could have accomplished what he did in his career. I said it in May and I will say it again you can shut the book on Jeter as an everyday Shortstop and now what it really comes down to is does Jeter want to continue on in his Major League career if he is no longer a star caliber player? Can he accept being a mostly Full time DH? Can he accept having a bench role and getting paid a lot less money to do so? We have seen some players whose desire to play, no matter what, is so strong that former super stars will play in the minors or go oversees to keep playing, but is that what Jeter wants to do? Its not a criticism of his either way or any kind of judgment on him as a player or person but that is what the outlook for the rest of his career is. Either way Derek Jeter is one of the all time greatest Yankees and if his career is over tomorrow then it was an amazing experience for all of us as fans and if not then we all get more Derek Jeter.

The end of Derek Jeter?

Derek Jeter’s 2012 season cannot be undersold he was absolutely amazing, I don’t think anybody thought that at age 38 he would possibly hit as well as he did, I did not even realize until I saw the stats but his 216 hits in the 2012 season was the second most in his career as in only once in his 18 year Major League baseball career did he have more hits than in 2012 and that was way back in 1999 when he had 219. That being said everything changed when Jeter broke his ankle in the ALCS, let’s be clear this happened because he played through the pain his ankle had been bothering him all September and instead of resting he got a cortisone shot to keep playing because the Yankees needed him too. Derek said he would be back by opening day and that seemed unlikely because he was coming off a BROKEN ANKLE, and sure enough despite the possibility being raised during spring training Derek wasn’t ready. Then it turned out that he had fractured his ankle in his attempt to be ready and now will be out until at least the all-star break but no return date has been set.

 There are a huge number of problems with this injury beyond the fact that Derek Jeter is not playing with the Yankees and they really could use his bat right now. The biggest problem that comes up is “Can he play Short stop?” I mean Derek hasn’t had good range in years and it’s been especially bad the last three years and now he has a broken ankle on top of that. It would be one thing if Nunez was still throwing the ball away every other play, but his fielding has been pretty good and if we are being honest definitely better than Jeter’s. It’s a monument to Jeter that he has been able to play Short stop for 18 years and it’s the only place he has ever fielded, but I honestly do not think that he can play there on that ankle. The Yankees will probably try him out at Short a bit but I expect that he will mostly DH when he returns, but what about next year? I don’t know if Derek will pick up his player option for next season and it is technically possible that Derek could retire at the end of the year, I expect that he will want to play more after the season and what if he doesn’t want to DH 100 games or if the Yankees say he needs to change positions and he won’t do it, what happens then?  In 2014 the Yankees cannot have the left side of their infield feature a shortstop with a broken ankle and a 3^rd baseman who has had two hip surgeries and both Jeter and A-Rod will likely need to DH frequently anyway. Also Jeter’s speed will likely be completely gone, it happens to most people who break an ankle and it does make me wonder how well Jeter will be in taking the extra base, I expect that he will push himself to do it but it’s very possible that he just won’t be able to anymore.  As of right now this doesn’t impact the Yankees as they need to actually be close to getting The Captain back before we can truly wonder where he will play and what his impact will be, but it’s still in the back of my mind.This off season contract negotiations could end up being a lot more stressful than the one that caused so much controversy in the 2010 off season.

Jeter reinjures Ankle

Well the Yankees woes against left handed pitching are likely to continue as Derek Jeter has a new fracture in his ankle and will be out until at least the allstar break, the good news is that he wont need surgery again. Brian Cashman said that Jeter, should be able to resume his rehabilitation when the new crack heals, in about four to eight weeks. The statement from Cashman says that Jeter did nothing wrong in terms of his rehab stating:
"He was cleared to play. This is the third CT scan he's had. His prior two CT scans showed the healing and 100 percent healing. He wasn't cleared for the baseball activities and cleared to play until he had 100 percent healing, so this is a new fracture, but a small one. That's I guess the only good part. They kept saying the word 'small.'"
Remeber originally Jeter wanted to be back for opening day and I have mentioned that that seemed very ambitious considering he was coming back from severe ankle surgery. I also have a hard time believing that this new injury has nothing to do with Jeter pushing himself, that's what he does its how he broke his ankle in the ALCS he needed to rest but he got a cortisone shot to power through it. At 38 you just aren't able to do that and while we hear all about these athletes coming back from injuries in record time, thats not practical and a player runs the risk of re injuring themselves just as Derek did here. Its very possible at this point that Eduardo Nunez will be the Yankees everyday shortstop for most of the year, so let that sink in.

Jeter received a Cortison shot for ankle

Well this is a great way to get going for Jeter, after playing in only 5 games he has been scratched from two games and had now received a cortisone shot for the mild inflammation in his left ankle today. The Captains day to day and there is a chance that he will not be ready now for opening day, in which case Eduardo Nunez would be the starting shortstop. In order for Jeter to be ready he will need to play a full 9 innings and play in back to back games, there are only 12 days left in spring training so it will be cutting it close. 

Derek Jeter leaves game with injured Ankle

Update 11:12pm Apparently it is actually a bone bruise on his ankle and Jeter will try and play tomorrow, probably as the DH. So potentially not that bad.

Update 10:38pm Its reportedly a sprained Ankle. I have no idea what the time table for that is but it shouldn't be too long.

Derek Jeter hurt his ankle when he grounded into a double play in the 8th inning. Bryan Hoch reports that it is an ankle injury. No word on the severity of the injury yet and Jeter was replaced by Jayson Nix at short stop in the bottom of the 8th inning.