I found this blurb from John Harper this morning fairly interesting:
“The question is whether (Brian) Cashman and the others think this is the start of a decline,” he said. “And if so, are they going to factor it into the negotiations or just pay him for being the face of the franchise all these years? Knowing Derek, he’ll say all the right things, but he won’t give an inch based on his numbers this season.”
The second former teammate essentially agreed.
“It’s up to (the Yankees),” one former player said. “Knowing Jeet, he’s not going to let an off-year, if it turns out to be an off-year, play a role in what he thinks he should get paid. He just doesn’t think like that. He’ll be more convinced than ever that he’ll come back and hit .330 next year.”
Jeter may be the ultimate team guy, but two former teammates believe that when it comes to getting paid, his pride will demand that he get something approaching A-Rod money, regardless of what he hits this season.
Complicating matters is the Alex Rodriguez contract, which has another seven years worth $209 million, plus those potential milestone home-run bonuses.
To some extent, I’m a little leery of responding to speculation passed through anonymous sources. But I’m not trying to impugn Harper, and this seems plausible enough, so here’s my question: We’ve all speculated as to what sort of contract we’d give Jeter, but how much is absolutely too much? Where’s your breaking point, where you’d be willing to cut Jeter loose and move on? And what sort of negotiating strategy would you use behind the scenes?
Do I have to remind everyone again who has the best selling bobblehead doll in baseball?
On a different note, unless the Yankees have a Plan B, they'll pay Jeter whatever it takes to keep him. Plan B, by the way, is 162 games of a Nunez/Pena platoon.
So, let's recap. First, Jeter is the most productive option the Yankees have available to play shortstop in 2011, and possibly for some undeterminable time after that. Second, given Jeter's popularity, fame, celebrity status, first round HOF credentials, merchandising power and general ability to get people to buy some of the most expensive tickets in baseball, the Yankees are going to make money on Jeter regardless of what they pay him and how much (or little) he produces on the field. Third, the Jeter-Yankees marriage is every bit as good for Jeter as it is for the Yankees, so there's no reason for Jeter to mess it up by demanding more than the Yankees are comfortable paying.
Move along, people. There's nothing to see here.
Wake me up when baseball invokes a salary cap… until then, I just can't get worked up over how much the face of the franchise makes per year.
The Yankees aren't paying Jeter above 20 million per year and he isn't taking less than 15…. so really, AT MOST, we're quibbling over 5 million per year, for a multi billion dollar corporation. Spare me.
Uh, Jeter is aware of how well he's playing, isn't he? I read elsewhere that when approached for comment, he replied "Later," but then disappeared. Not that I blame him.
After all – Javy lost his jog; Burnett is in danger – depending at least a touch on tonite's start. But The Captain – he can't even be moved to the back of the batting order along with the other heavy hitters. (and his average is better than Pena and Cervelli, even if he is 20 points behind Gardner.) <chagrin>
any chance of going to arbitration? so he could get paid based on what other shortstops with comparable numbers get paid?
The problem with arbitration is that it almost always guarantees a small raise over one’s previous salary, and it’s only for one year. The Yankees would probably be leery of the former, and Jeter of the latter.
I kind of doubt that the Yankees offer Jeter arbitration, but there’s no way in hell Jeter would accept it if they did.
Whenever I play Out of the Park Baseball 10 (which I never have the time for anymore, unfortunately), Jeter is usually the first one off my Yankees boat. Mo comes second (but to be clear, Mo only because he suffers age decline in that game that we are not seeing whatsoever in real life). I wouldn’t be that sad if Jeter left the team, but we would need to find somebody to play shortstop. Even with mediocre offense and bad (ok, awful) defense, he still might be worth $15-18M (to the Yankees) for 3 years… to hit in the 8th or 9th spot. Any more years than that and I’d rather see the team cut the cord.
5yrs/100 mil. In terms of negotiating strategy, I would first contact Howie Spira.
Kevin, I’d be happy if Jeter got a raise next season in exchange for a limited commitment of years.
FWIW, I’d slow walk Jeter’s negotiations, maybe even let him field some offers from other teams so he knows exactly what the market for him is.
I probably set the breaking point lower than most Yankees fans. I like Jeter immensely, of course, but he’s neither the player whose retirement I most dread (that would be Mo) nor the member of the Core Four closest to my heart (that would be Jorge).
The thing about Jeet is that his view of the world is simultaneously inspiring and infuriating. He inspires because there is literally no quit in him, and he puts a human face on the Yankee philosophy that every season should be a push for victory. That is why, when he’s batting in a key spot and I’m in the crowd, there is no player I cheer for with a deeper and more sincere bellow (except, again, my hero No. 20). But he infuriates because he adroitly deflects any commentary that would put even a tiny chink in that world view, whether one is discussing his defensive ability, the value of analysis in general, the state of the club, or his future in it. Between the lines and in the dugout, his singular focus is thrilling. Off the field, it often hits me as deliberate know-nothing-ism.
Derek Jeter has won five rings, and with a little luck we might get to see him add more in the years that remain to him in pinstripes. He could rebound next year and have three or even four remarkable offensive seasons to go. I don’t want to be misconstrued as writing him off; I’m talking here about my medium-term worries. Aging out of one’s skills is a fundamental if always saddening part of baseball, and I am deeply concerned, not just for the sake of the Yankees but for the sake of Jeter himself, that there’s a serious risk of denying reality simply because this is Derek Jeter. I hope against hope that when the time comes, Jeter will gracefully make way for the next generation of Yankees while remaining around as an elder statesman. But what we know about Jeter’s personality suggests this may not be possible. My worst nightmare is the Brett Favre scenario — I can’t stand seeing a guy build himself into a legend with one club and then take the gleam off that legacy by hopping from team to team at the end of his career when he ought not have anything left to prove (or earn).
I’m fine with Brian Cashman going a bit above the raw market value of Jeter’s skills – call it a captain’s bonus — but an A-Rod like contract will only ossify Jeter’s already fairly fixed mindset and slow the club’s preparation for the next great Era.
Anyone else want to parse this?
http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/yankees/long_struggling_jeter_doesn_need_xUvTL1Ib0m0EvLBP8ZKwBI
One of the things I’ve been mulling is how both the Yankees and Jeter could have their cake and eat it too.
First, let me give the following two concessions to the mindset:
1) I absolutely want Jeter to stay with the Yankees until he retires; both because I like him as a player and because I like what he does/represents for the Yankees. I consider having a player your mortal enemy (Bill Simmons) respects as a Good Thing(tm).
2) I know absolutely nothing / very little about how a MLB contract can be structured and/or how payroll, revenue sharing, etc. has to be calculated.
But what I’ve been thinking along the lines of my first sentence is — if baseball is a business as the revenue sharing documents have so eloquently illustrated — why can’t Jeter be offered a lower-base salary than he would want and take the George Lucas option: merchandising rights.
Jeter is a savvy businessman, among everything else. He’s built his brand — but his brand is pretty tied to the Yankees. Why not cut him in on a piece of everything specific to the cojoined brand to make everyone happy — he knows he’s more valuable with the Yankees, the Yankees know he’s more valuable with the Yankees — this gives everyone the chance to put their money where the money is (no typo). Presumably this cannot occur on things like jerseys, etc. (which I believe are stringently monitored and organized by MLB, not the teams). But what about those Jeter bobbleheads you mention? What about YES Network cutting him in on Yankeeography Jeter residuals (if he’s not already)? What about The Captains Collection residuals?
There has to be some way to get him the extra money that’s determinant on both parties knowing they make more money together. Of course it may not be legal (CBA), may not be signed off by the MLBPA or the Commissioner’s Office and the Yankees would probably still have to account for the money exactly as it would likely have to count in Revenue Sharing (which is dead, so maybe not).
But I keep thinking that “outside the box” contract negotiations may be the best way to go, if possible, in this particular instance.
David that’s a great post… probably the best one on this subject (and there’s been a lot of them)….
However, I don’t know about the legality of that, I’m guessing it’s illegal or it would have already been done before somewhere along the way.
I’m sure he could be coerced into retirement in 2013 if he were named the Director of Yankee Outreach and Community Operations for $10 mil a year?
David, the merchandise you’ve mentioned is not controlled by the Yankees. While Yankees gear dominate MLB licensed merchandise sales, see http://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/article/110933, the Yankees don’t receive these revenues. Instead, the revenues are split evenly among all 30 teams. This is actually another form of revenue sharing, one that doesn’t get talked about too much.
The Steinbrenners could offer Jeter a piece of the team. I don’t know any reason why that couldn’t happen.
The CBA prohibits players from having equity in the team.
Well, THERE’S a reason why it couldn’t happen.
Brien, maybe it COULD happen. http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=10316.
Theoretically, that does not prevent allocation of anything YES-related then, even were they to also want to do something sneaky under the “needing Commissioner’s approval” clause for team ownership.
I know how everyone says that Jeter has all the leverage and that there will be behind the scenes negotiation and all but I don’t understand why people don’t think the Yanks should go public with their offer. (obviously offer privately first then if Jeter demands the world then go public).
If Cashman publicly offers a more than fair (ie above market value) 2 years at 15 million with a player option for a 3rd year at 10 million I don’t see how the yanks will be the bad guys. Derek will look greedy and foolish when he eventually signs a 1 year deal for 8-10 million somewhere else (kind of like Damon).
Reggie got a candy bar – why not Jeter?
I actually was thinking about this prior to the article and to me the easiest and best possible solution would be for the Yanks to tell Jeter to shop himself around and see what the best offer he gets is. The Yanks could then tack a million a year extra than the best offer he receives and call it good. Then he's being paid a fair market value plus a bonus for being with the Yanks.