INDIAN WELLS, Calif. — Two years ago, a publicly tense saga starring Derek Jeter and the Yankees concluded with a stirring finish, when — upon agreeing to a three-year, $45-million extension — the star shortstop said he was “angry” with the way things went down. For someone who hates controversy more than he hates sitting out a ballgame, this was a 10.0 on the Jeter Richter Scale.
A friend of general manager Brian Cashman, Jeter’s primary nemesis in the negotiations, laughed afterward.
“I bet that bothered Brian for one, maybe two seconds,” the friend said. “If Mariano had said something like that, now that would’ve bothered Brian.”
Which brings us to the next Yankees front. Though negotiations are still in the infancy stage, the team would like Mariano Rivera to agree to a cut from last year’s $15 million salary, an industry source confirmed. Early indications, however, are that this delicate exercise will be far less bloody and muddy than when Jeter wound up with a smaller paycheck.
“He wants to come back. We want him back,” Cashman said yesterday at the general managers’ meetings. “That’s the hard part. I am sure we will work through the issues.”
“I can’t comment on that,” Fernando Cuza, Rivera’s representative, told the Post’s George King. “Brian and I have not talked about that.”
That’s possible. In any case, the Yankees are thinking that, given that the soon-to-be 43-year-old missed the bulk of last season with a right knee injury, a base salary closer to, say, $10 million, with games-finished incentives to get him back up to the neighborhood of $15 million, is a sensible ground for agreement.
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It’s hard to believe that Rivera, almost as savvy a free agent as he is a pitcher — this is his third go-round in the open market — declared his intention to pitch again without having some idea of how much the Yankees would be willing to pay him. Rivera is proud, but he also is a cold-blooded pragmatist when necessary. During the 2010-11 offseason, he welcomed interest from the Red Sox in order to procure a two-year agreement from the Yankees.
The Yankees have plenty of experience talking dollars and sense with Rivera and Cuza. Assuming it gets done, this contract will be Rivera’s fifth with the Yankees since they moved past back-to-back arbitration hearings in 1999 and 2000. To the contrary, when Jeter and the Yankees finalized a 10-year, $189-million contract in February 2001, it both ensured long-term viability for both sides and allowed emotion to stew, as the Yankees felt that they had paid Jeter exceedingly well in his pre-free agency years and then didn’t receive a break on the post-free agency side.
Jeter’s uneasy relationship with Alex Rodriguez, back in A-Rod’s initial seasons with the Yankees, further strained the bond between the captain and his employers.
So when Jeter entered free agency after 2010, looking like a 36-year-old shortstop on the decline, the Yankees were fully prepared for a battle. They didn’t mind if some feelings were hurt along the way to a renewal of vows.
There is no such anger looming beneath the surface this time. This is a simple case of, “Hey, Mariano, cut us a break, will ya?”
The bet, as written in this space last week, is that Rivera will heed the Yankees’ wishes. Let’s go with a $13 million base salary, since the Yankees are waiting to hear back from Rafael Soriano on their one-year, $13.3-million qualifying offer, with another $2 million attainable in incentives to get it to $15 million.
The Yankees greatly value their iconic players; ownership is much more involved in talks with a Jeter or Rivera than with, say, a free agent like Torii Hunter or Russell Martin. Nevertheless, the Yankees believe the Core Three benefit just as much from their association with the team as the team does from the player.
Neither side in this case is wary of a little drama and, concurrently, there is enough mutual respect to understand that it’s just business.
Which is why, when this deal gets done, you’re as likely to see Rivera describe himself as “angry” as you are to see him say, “Enough with the cut fastball already. From now on, it’s just knuckleballs for me.”