Quite Yankly

It is amazing that Derek Jeter is entering his 14th season in pinstripes. It seemed like yesterday, he was the fresh-faced kid that won ROY in 1996 and guided the Yanks to their 1st World Series title since the late 1970’s. Now the Yanks desperately need the Captain’s help to unseat the Red Sox in their quest for another title.

Jeter is the type of player that every manager would like to have on his team. He runs out every ball and is the smartest player on the field at all times. The problem is that Jeter will be 34 years of age during the 2008 season and still playing shortstop. Shortstop is a position which requires much mobility and physical skill. Jeter has won 3 gold gloves during his career, but how many will he earn during the rest of his career. The good news is that Jeter has won all three Gold Gloves after the age of 29.

Many baseball people have refuted the fact that Jeter is a great defensive player. But as previously stated , Jeter clearly is not immensely hurting his team. He might have to move to another position in a couple years or so, but let’s all worry about that in the future. He is our Captain and if he thinks he can still play ss, then so should we.

Jeter is expected to be an important part of the team offensively. He has played in 154+ game in each of the last four seasons. His offensive output should be around the same this year: .300 10 70 .380 OBP. He needs to to do what he does best, which is to make contact, get on base, and move runners over. Not much else needs to be said about Derek Jeter, what you see is what you are gonna get day in and day out.