The Yankees have legitimate reasons to pay him less over fewer years. Jeter is now 36 and while he seemed ageless last season on his way to a MVP candidacy season, this season he looked as if his age caught up with him. He had his worst statistical season this year and he lost a step on defense as well. As the lead off hitter and shortstop, both of those drops are a bad sign. The Yankees will only want to sign him for 3-4 years and not at the 20+ million he was making last season. Derek Jeter and his agent obviously think differently.
Derek Jeter has been the Yankees captain since 2003, only the 14th Yankee to be named captain. He is an 11-time All Star through a 15 year career. He was won 4 Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. There is way more to his list of awards but I think you get the point. At age 35, he had one of his best years and was a MVP nominee. Jeter deserves to get paid based on merit alone, but Yankees G.M. Brian Cashman says he does negotiate contracts that way. Fellow Yankee Alex Rodriquez was given a deal that has him on the Yankees' books til age 42, and you bet Derek Jeter will want at least that. Would it even make sense that A-Rod got a longer deal than the longtime Yankee captain? Over the life of A-Rod's 10-year 275 million dollar deal he signed in 2007, the lowest he will be paid is 20 million dollars and that's the final two years of the contract. Jeter's agent will look at this and say you can't offer anything under 20 million dollars a year because you will be paying A-Rod that when he's ages 41 and 42. Now you start to see where Jeter and his agent aren't coming from.
So the Yankees have a point and Jeter and his agent have a point. Who's right? Well, they both are and that is why Hal Steinbrenner said that this will be a messy negotiation. It's easy to negotiate when you have leverage, but neither the Yankees nor Jeter have that. They both will make outstanding points to their side of the coin. So who will give in? The New York Yankees will be the benders in this negotiation because Jeter personifies their organization and the repercussions of letting him walk will be devastating. Fans know how deep the pockets are and will be furious if the Yankees decide to put their foot down on the Yankee captain. I expect Jeter to get a 6 year deal with him getting no less than 20 million a year the first three years of the contract. The captain is an important piece to the New York Yankees, and so is his cash.
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