Separating Derek Jeter's playing abilities from all the hype

A friend of mine accused me the other day of "hating" Derek Jeter. Not true. What I can't stand is the nauseating myth built around the captain, giving him superpowers that simply aren't there. And some of the mythmakers need a dose of reality potion nearly as much as Jeter does with his ridiculous contract demands.

Jeter got a 10-year, $189 million from the Yankees not because of his intangibles, or his leadership, or his calm eyes, to use a Tim McCarverism. He got that kind of cheddar because he was a great player in the prime of his career. And really, all the focus on this other stuff takes away noticing the actual tangible baseball skills he has shown over the years, albeit much less so as of late.

Why isn't him being a first-ballot Hall of Famer enough? Why do we have to hear this myth, that Jeter isn't just a great player, but he's the best person to ever walk on the baseball field? That he was a better player than A-Rod, when he never was? That he doesn't care about money? That he's the greatest leader ever? It's nonsense. That's why they're called intangibles -- because you can't measure them!

I never thought Jeter was a good captain. Even before the A-Rod stuff, there was his annual "it's not the same team" post-playoffs speech he'd make every time the Yankees would lose in the postseason. Not exactly the kind of leadership that Paul O'Neill and David Cone provided in the late '90s dynasty.

As Newsday columnist Ken Davidoff noted:

Remember, when free agent CC Sabathia voiced concerns about the Yankees' clubhouse to Cashman, the GM admitted to the big lefty that the clubhouse was "broken."


That's because Jeter, the team captain, could never work through his issues with Alex Rodriguez (and he apparently still can't, since you'd be naive to think Jeter's current contract demands have nothing to do with A-Rod). It's because Jeter did not help create an open, welcoming environment....


It did indeed take the arrival of Sabathia - and even A.J. Burnett a little bit, at least in his first year - to eliminate the "Choose a side, Jeter or A-Rod" - vibe that existed in the Yankees' clubhouse for a long time.

If Donovan McNabb could welcome dog killer Michael Vick to the Philadelphia Eagles -- a dog killer who ended up taking his job, yet -- then I don't think it was too much for Jeter to get over his issues with A-Rod. It was up to the captain to make the peace there. No less than Joe Torre admitted in "The Yankee Years" that the clubhouse was divided. How is that conducive to winning? How does that make Jeter any sort of great leader?

I remember watching A-Rod's first press conference with the Yanks, where he looked as happy as a clam. Meanwhile, Jeter mumbled through the whole thing, and looked like Vick killed his dog or something. I don't care if A-Rod is the most annoying person in the world; he was also the greatest player in baseball at the time. The fact that Jeter allowed his personal feelings to cloud what was good for the team was contrary to what he's supposed to be all about -- winning.

Then there are Jeter's ridiculous contract demands after coming off the worst season of his career. Yet except for Ken Davidoff and Bill Madden, most of the New York writers have given him a pass, just avoiding directly criticizing him. Are they worried that if they say something, Jeter will cut off their access or something? It's very peculiar.

One writer --MLB columnist Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com -- did say what needed to be said:

Jeter gets bonus points for the respectable way he's gone about his business the last 16 years, but he's pushing the limits. Yes, he's the face of the Yankees, but he is not bigger than the Yankees. His agent's contract suggestions, however, suggest he believes otherwise, and that's more of a slap in the face to "the Yankees brand" than anything the Yankees themselves are bringing to the table in this ridiculous melodrama....


Let's not make this a matter of respectful worship for a sacred cow. This is a negotiation between a team and a player, plain and simple. And if Jeter is adamant about receiving anything resembling $23 million a year, then the Yankees ought to instruct him to negotiate elsewhere.

I agree!
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What would have happened with Derek Jeter's contract situation if A-Rod hadn't opted out?

I wrote a piece for The Faster Times the other day wondering about what would be happening in the Derek Jeter contract saga if there weren't Alex Rodriguez's contract in the picture. Check it out here.

Also, my Red Sox friend Sully of Sully Baseball interviewed me yesterday for his podcast. It was great fun to talk to him -- we actually have very similar takes on sports, despite the teams we root for. One of Sully's main points over the years is how Boston fans and New York fans have more in common than you'd think. For example, the baseball season never ends in these areas -- fans talk 24/7 about their teams, even in the dead of winter. You go to most other parts of the country, and that isn't the case.

Will let you know when you can hear the podcast. It should be very entertaining.

Brian Cashman: Rappelling Elf?

I don't even know what to say about the news that Yankee GM Brian Cashman is going to rappel 22 floors down a building with his friend Santa Claus this weekend. Oh, and to top it all off, Cash will be dressed as an elf. What the???

This is one of the weirder stories I've heard this year. When I first read about it on my friend Steve's WasWatching site, I thought it was a joke. I still can't quite believe it's real.

I'm not crazy about Cashman doing this, especially without a net. Leave the rappelling to the trained professionals. If Cashman wants to do something involving a rap-type activity, he should be a special guest star on the new Jay-Z album or something. Not this.

The Yankees have issued a press release about Cashman's participation. Here's some of what he said:

"I've been leaving milk and cookies for Santa for some time now, but this year I wanted to take a more active role in assisting him," Cashman said in a statement released by the Yankees.

He said, "As an elf, you have to be willing to build toys, wrap presents, prepare reindeer for flight, or rappel off buildings for Santa. I take my role as an elf seriously because there are a lot of children out there counting on him."


I guess we really are in the post-George Steinbrenner era. I can only imagine The Boss' reaction to Cashman doing this when it's already December, and the Yankees haven't signed a single free agent. Not to mention that the winter meetings are coming up next week.

It's also a little strange that Cashman is doing such a stunt as GM of a team which has had such very strict non-baseball activity clauses in players' contracts, stemming from Thurman Munson's tragic death in a plane crash. Remember, Aaron Boone got his contract voided from getting hurt playing a game of pickup basketball. Yeah, yeah, I know a GM is different from a player, but if Cash were to get hurt doing this stunt, it would put the team in a bit of a pickle.

Here's hoping Cashman's elf moment comes off without a hitch.

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Sloppy logic: Enough with the "if they could spend money on that player" argument

If you overspent on something that stopped running before you expected it to, do you use it as a reminder to be more careful with your money next time? Or do you say, hey, it's okay if I blow too much money on the next item, because I already spent beaucoups of money on the previous one?

That type of argument is one of the debates you hear over and over with the Derek Jeter contract negotiations.All too many people use the argument of "well, if the Yankee could spend money on A.J. Burnett and Carl Pavano and Kei Igawa and Kevin Brown and Randy Johnson and Javier Vazquez, they can spend it on Derek Jeter" to justify his contract demands.

This makes zero logical sense, for a variety of reasons:

* In very few of these cases (Javier Vazquez, Part Deux is a rare exception) it wasn't obvious that the Yankees were making a mistake at the time. Carl Pavano was the top free agent after the 2004 season. The Red Sox actually offered more money for him than the Yankees did. A.J. Burnett was the second-best pitcher on the free agent market when the Yanks desperately needed new arms; even though his 2010 was awful, he did help the Yanks win the 2009 World Series with his pitching and his own, own, intangibles. (Who wants pie?)

As for the Kei Igawa thing, that was a combination of bad scouting advice and the Yanks trying to compete with Boston picking up Dice-K. Also, keep in mind that the reason Yankees have kept him in the minors, and off the 40-man roster, instead of just dumping him is because his $4 million a year salary won't count as part of the team's MLB payroll. If they got rid of him, they would have to pay 40 percent luxury tax on that salary.

* Part of the reason free agents are able to command big money is leverage; if the Yankees don't pay Cliff Lee much more than the Rangers will, he'll stay in Texas. The only leverage Jeter has now is "pay me, I'm a Yankee legend." There isn't a single major league team that will pay Jeter, or any other 36-year-old shortstop with a .710 OPS, anything close to $15 million a year for three years. If Derek were 32 coming off a bad season, the risk would be worth it. This year, not so muh. The Yankees are already giving Jeter extra for his intangibles. Notice that at no point in any of his public utterances so far did Casey Close suggest that re-signing Jeter would help the Yankees in the best position to win. It's all about him being compensated for being a Yankee icon. Well, Yogi Berra is a Yankee icon, too, but I don't think it would do the Yanks any good to pay him $25 million a year.

* Paying legacy money can hamstring a team: Jorge Posada's terrific 2007 season, combined with interest by the Mets, got him a four-year deal from the Yankees. Keep in mind that he had never been on the disabled list his entire career up until that point. I thought four years was way too much, as history has shown us that most catchers are no longer catchers at 40. But others said at the time that since he started catching at a later age, he wouldn't be affected by that. So much for that. Now the Yankees are stuck paying $13 million through the end of 2011 for a catcher who can no longer catch.

* Where does it end? Robinson Cano will be a free agent in a few years. If the Yanks were to pay Derek Jeter $25M a year into his 40s, how much do you think Cano's agent is going to demand -- $35 million a year? How about when Phil Hughes and Brett Gardner are free agents?

This fuzzy logic isn't isolated to Yankeeland, though. Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy writes a column today suggesting that the Boston Red Sox fork over $60 million over the next three seasons to sign the captain:

What’s the harm in offering Jeter $20 million a year over three years? If you can pay J.D. Drew $14 million per year . . . if you can pay a Japanese team $50 million just for the right to speak with Daisuke Matsuzaka . . . if you can buy a futbol club for $476 million, why not spend $60 million to bust pinstripe chops for all the ages?

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Gotta go to Mo's: How Squawker Jon and I spent a Sunday afternoon

Happy 41st birthday, Mariano Rivera. In honor of the big day, here's a Mo-related post -- about how Squawker Jon and I went to Mo's New York Grill, Mariano Rivera's restaurant, in New Rochelle last Sunday.

I have been wanting to go to Mo's for years now, so when I saw a deal at TownHog for the meal, I figured now was the time. Jon and I went there for a late lunch on Sunday. It only took about 18 miles from picking up Squawker Jon to reach the restaurant. We listened to the Jet game on the radio, and watched the second half of the Jets game there -- the restaurant has plenty of big screen TVs where you can get a terrific view from any seat in the house.

At some point in the Jets-Texans game -- I think it was when the Jets were ahead 20-3 -- Jon pronounced the game over for the Jets. So much for that -- they had to come back at the very end in order to win!

Anyhow, back to the really important stuff -- the food. We each had the filet mignon and split au gratin potatoes. The food was very delicious and well worth the trip. One of the cool things about Mo's is that it has steakhouse items, as well as a variety of other foods -- and a variety of other price ranges. The steaks are reasonably priced, but you can also get a sandwich or a burger for under $10. The menu also has seafood items. We also saw the dessert tray, but passed on getting anything, although they all looked good.

The service was also very good. A young man named Dijon filled our water glasses and answered our questions about the restaurant. He was a pleasure to talk to -- enthusiastic, passionate about his place of employment, and very well-spoken. He pointed out and explained the picture above; it was one of the coolest things we saw.

After we ate, we walked around Mo's New York Grill, looking at all the pictures on the wall. It's not just all Mo -- I spotted lots of individual pictures of Yankees, past and present. There are even more pictures in the Championship Room, a separate room in the restaurant, but since there was a wedding reception going on at the time, I had to sneak a peek at the photos there.

One of my favorite pictures in the whole place was this one at left. Yes, that's Texas Rangers co-owner Nolan Ryan back in the day, giving Robin Ventura a  beatdown. The picture is autographed by Ryan himself (although Ventura didn't sign it!) and it says, Don't mess with Texas or Mo's! How cool is that!

Anyhow, if you're thinking of going to Mo's, definitely check it out. It was a cozy way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

What do you think? Tell us about it!

Nick Swisher talks about Derek Jeter and "Movember"

FOX Business Network let me know about Nick Swisher's appearance (see video here) on their network to promote Movember -- the month where men grew facial hair to raise cancer awareness. (You can read more about this here.)

He told FBN's Cheryl Casone and Ashley Webster this about Derek Jeter:  “I could not see him in any other uniform than the pinstripes.”

Here are some excerpts from the interview. Transcript is courtesy of Fox Business Network.

On whether Derek Jeter will return for another season:


“He’s the face of the franchise. He’s done so much for this team, so much for the city, and so much for the game of baseball. Who knows what’s gonna happen, but I could not see him in any other uniform than the pinstripes.”

On the Yankees 2010 season:


“We had such an amazing season this year, we kind of tailed off toward the end, but hey we had a great team didn’t work out for us, but I know that that hunger’s gonna definitely be there next year. It’s a wonderful team, wonderful opportunity, and any time you get to put the pin stripes on every day, life is great.”

On New York:


“I love it here, hopefully I’ve found a home.”


On the difference between a New York fan and a West Coast fan:


“Everything is different. There are no fans in this game that are like the New York Yankee fans. I’ve never been around a group of more loyal people in my entire life and to be able to go out and take the field every day with that pride, honor and tradition…it’s been an amazing couple of years.”


On involvement with charity Movember:


“What a wonderful opportunity to team up with Movember and The Art of Shaving to help raise cancer awareness. For myself, losing my grandmother from cancer and my mother going through Leukemia right now, it’s definitely an honor.”

Pay no attention to the captain behind the curtain

As anybody who has read this blog for more than five minutes knows, I'm fairly cynical about the way the media builds up their favorite athletes as saints, and others as sinners. A lot of what we know about professional athletes comes from what the press chooses to tell us -- or not to tell us -- about a star. And frequently, even though they knew plenty of negative stuff on their favorites, we don't hear about those things until years or even decades later, like when the elegant, classy Joe DiMaggio was revealed to be a grudge-holding cheapskate.

Over the last fifteen years, there is nobody in professional sports who has been the beneficiary of such positive press treatment as Derek Jeter. So even when Jeter is asking for a ridiculous amount of money in his next deal, looking like the worst of the me-first players, and the opposite of his carefully crafted persona, some members of the press are blaming the Yankees, not Jeter, for the mess. Shocker, I know.

The New York Daily News' Bob Raissman writes:

Whether by design, or the fact this story is totally out of control, Jeter is being more and more perceived as spoiled and greedy. This a far different portrait of a man who has been deified throughout his distinguished career.

In the long run this ain't good for Jeter or the Yankees. If the Captain's storybook tale is even slightly soiled the Bombers' brand is harmed. In what has turned into a petty and mean spirited negotiation, the Yankees are eating away at Jeter's iconic image.

The "damage" is being done through columns that stop short of calling Jeter a shot ballplayer, but contend his only leverage for a megabucks contract are past accomplishments and status. Stories reporting he is demanding $25 million per over six years lead to a perception that Jeter is money grubbing and delusional. That characterization doesn't play well, especially in this economy.

Well, if Jeter doesn't want to be perceived as "money grubbing and delusional," then he shouldn't be asking for money and years way above his market value. Problem solved!

But to blame the Yankees for this is silly. They haven't said boo about Mariano Rivera or Andy Pettitte in the press. They brought up that the Jeter contract negotiations as a pre-emptive strike, because they had an inkling on how ridiculous his demands would be. That's not the Yankees' fault -- that's Jeter's fault. And the only "brand" that is being damaged here is Jeter's, not the team.

ESPN New York columnist Ian O'Connor has written yet another valiant defense of Derek Jeter, the subject of his upcoming book. And, guess what? There is still no mention in this article about said biography, a book that Jeter and his people are cooperating with. Shocker, I know.

In this latest column, O'Connor acknowledges having a little bit of egg on his face for not foreseeing this contract battle:

Last month, I guessed that the Yankees and Jeter would find a fair compromise at four years and about $23 million a pop. At the time I overestimated the team's eagerness to compensate Jeter for being Jeter, for succeeding where DiMaggio and Mantle failed -- namely, maintaining his iconic aura without treating others like dirt.

I'll give O'Connor a lot of props for actually admitting that his prediction was off base, and even bringing it up again, when it would have been easy for him to pretend he never said it. That being said, his suggestion to pay somebody so much above market value for not being a jerk was a dopey idea in the first place. As Chris Rock might say, you're supposed to not treat others like dirt. What do you want, a cookie?

O'Connor doesn't mention, though, that he also wrote that the captain "is the ultimate money player who doesn't play for money." So much for that. But he's got an excuse for Jeter's greed as well:

Jeter's extreme faith in himself explains why he stands among the enduring Yankees and winners of all time, and why he could go down as the game's greatest all-around shortstop. It explains why he told his trainer, Jason Riley, and longtime Yankees executive Gene Michael that he feels he can play another seven seasons, through his 43rd birthday.  also explains why Jeter is asking for superstar money.

Like an aging Jordan, Jeter can't see himself as anything but, you know, a superstar.

Please. You can't tell us that Jeter doesn't play for money, and then justify his greed and arrogance as being why he's great. His image is built on putting the team first.

(And don't get me started on the idea that Jeter is the greatest all-around shortstop in history -- I could write a Squawk just on that!)

Oh, and by the way, Michael Jordan didn't play for money when he returned to professional play with the Washington Wizards. As part owner of the team, he took the league minimum in salary as a player, and donated it all with the Washington Wizards to help 9/11 victims' families. So that analogy doesn't really work here. In fact, one could argue that Jordan was really being "the ultimate money player who doesn't play for money," to use an O'Connorism!

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