At Home Plate - Maybe Jeter Can Be The Fourth Starter

At Home Plate

Written by Justin Zeth (Contact & Archive) on January 31, 2011

I’m sure I’m not the only one who got a good chuckle out of this nugget from MLBTradeRumors:

GM Brian Cashman told John Harper of the New York Daily News that he talked to Derek Jeter's agent, Casey Close, to clarify comments he made earlier in the week about a potential move to the outfield for the captain.

In case you missed that last riveting episode of Jeter TV, Cashman made a comment to the effect of, “Well, if we for some reason HAD to move Derek, I think he’d work out great in center field.” I thought that quote was pretty funny in its own right when first I read it. Putting Jeter in center field would have been a good idea about eight years ago, about the time Bernie Williams sailed off into the long night. That was when Jeter was still pretty young, and fast. Now he’s 35 and slowing down the way you did (or will) when you were (are) 35, and would rate somewhere between ugly and catastrophic trying to play center field now.

So Cashman wasn’t answering the question at all, assuming the question was “So, you think Jeter’s going to get moved off shortstop soon?” I can’t imagine how Casey Close and/or Derek Jeter would be so sensitive as to not realize it was an obvious and mildly entertaining non-answer, but that must have been a fun conversation between Close and Cashman. “Of COURSE we’re never ever moving him off shortstop, Casey! We plan for Derek Jeter to be our shortstop until 2045!”

Which everyone involved should of course also understand to be a joke. Jeter may last another couple years, but the Yankees are going to have some defensive alignment problems to solve before long. Mark Teixeira is their first baseman for some years to come, and the Yankees have two plans for their DH slot:

PLAN A: Albert Pujols
PLAN B: Jesus Montero

Pujols is the elephant in the room, and if I’m involved with the Yankees in any way, I’ve found no discouragement at all in anything Pujols has been up to the past couple months. I’d be starting to like my chances of making him a Yankee next offseason, as long as I can keep my moron fans away from his wife.

You ask, “where the hell would they play all their 1B/DH types if they brought Pujols on? That’s dumb.” Funny thing—someone asked Bill James that question just recently on his awesome site (subscription required and worth your money.) James, correctly as usual, said:

The Yankees historically pursue the best players... everybody else moves to accommodate them. You don't worry about what slot Pujols goes in. If you have Pujols, you worry about what slot everybody else goes in.

If Pujols hits the market, it is likely the Yankees will sign him and then, if Montero is still on the team, trade Montero for whatever he brings.

That means first base and DH are spoken for. That means that Alex Rodriguez is locked into third base for as long as he’s a Yankee. And Rodriguez is going to swiftly trade his glove in for a frying pan as he ages. Two years from now, it’s unlikely the Yankees will be able to abide both of them in their infield. And they can’t play DH. So one of them is going to have to hide in left field. It might be Rodriguez, but then again... playing shortstop isn’t easy, and Jeter may find himself both performing poorly and getting banged up too much at it.

I can’t help but wonder if the reason the Yankees declined to sign Carl Crawford is that they know left field is going to have to be kept open for the guy that used to be Derek Jeter in the not-too-distant future.

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