While shifting to another position might be best for Derek Jeter physically, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said on Tuesday he doesn’t see the 39-year-old captain moving.
“I think the options really for him are shortstop and DH,” Cashman said.
Jeter — who has a $9.5 million player option that he must decide whether to exercise within a five-day window that begins after the World Series — was limited to 17 games this season with a twice-broken ankle, a sore ankle, a strained calf and a strained quad. He batted just .190 with one homer, seven RBIs and a .542 OPS in 73 plate appearances.
“Certainly I hope to get Derek back to the Derek that we’re all used to,” Cashman said. “Now he’ll have some time to back off, get some rest, [get] some more flexibility back and get every aspect of that ankle in line as far as the kinetic chain. We’ll put him in a position to have the typical training regimen that he was used to as he prepares for the season.”
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Entering the last five seasons, the Yankees have known they’ve had an ace in CC Sabathia. But with the 33-year-old posting a 4.78 ERA this season, Cashman may have to re-calibrate what the Yankees can expect from Sabathia in 2014.
Cashman said he does not believe Sabathia’s diminished velocity will reverse itself, but said the lefty’s strikeout and walk ratios per nine innings (7.5 and 2.8, respectively) were aligned with those from 2009 (7.7, 2.6) and 2010 (7.5, 2.8). Cashman pointed to those as encouraging, since Sabathia finished in the top-4 of the Cy Young both seasons.
“That shows his pitch-ability, whether it’s at the high-octane 97 versus what he’s sitting at now,” Cashman said. “The pitch-ability’s still there. He has the ability to swing and miss and command the strike zone and pound it.”
Sabathia served up a career-worst 28 homers, and Cashman said: “Obviously the home run ball was a big problem for him this year. That historically I know can be fluky. That’s something that can be, and we certainly hope, an aberration.”
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Regarding the $189 million payroll threshold in 2014, Cashman said: “It’s certainly a goal. It’s not a mandate. It’s a goal that we have, if it’s possible, that there’s a lot of benefits to staying under that, but it’s not a mandate if it’s at the expense of a championship run.”
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Cashman said the Yankees are interested in re-signing free agent-to-be Hiroki Kuroda. … The Yankees will begin their pro scouting meetings on Monday.