Following a conversation between Derek Jeter’s agent and Yankees brass yesterday, Hank Steinbrenner said he and his brother, Hal, are confident their captain will return to the only major-league team for whom he has played.
In a phone interview with the Associated Press, Hank Steinbrenner painted the first positive picture of the Jeter negotiations.
Hank Steinbrenner said he is “confident that Derek will remain with the Yankees, and my brother does, as well.”
According to various reports, the meeting between Close and the Yankees was face to face in Tampa. Multiple sources said Cashman was expected in Tampa yesterday.
“I’m not going to get into who’s met who,” Hank Steinbrenner said.
On Nov. 8 when Jeter and Close met with the Yankees in Tampa, the team was represented by Cashman, club president Randy Levine and owner Hal Steinbrenner.
It’s possible that Close presented the Yankees with an official counter offer to their three-year, $45 million offer that the Yankees believe is more than fair and better than any Jeter can get from another team.
It’s been suggested by Jeter’s camp to the Yankees that Jeter is looking for a four- or five-year deal for $23 million per season.
So, there is a gulf to bridge and yesterday was a big step toward doing that.
With the Winter Meetings opening Monday in Orlando, the Yankees likely would want to get Jeter back in pinstripes, so they can concentrate on bagging free agent pitcher Cliff Lee. The Rangers are close to making Lee, who pitched them past the Yankees and into the World Series, an offer.
Though the Yankees might be willing to raise the dollars to Jeter, they are likely to hold steady on the years. Last week, Cashman said there were concerns about Jeter’s performance in recent years, and the next day Cashman suggested Jeter, 37 in June, shop the Yankees’ offer on the open market to see if the team captain could better it.
It’s widely believed that no team will match the Yankees’ offer to Jeter, never mind top it.
The timing of Jeter and Close talking to the Yankees coincided with the Rockies giving shortstop Troy Tulowitzki a seven-year extension that will be added to the existing final three years on a previous deal. For the next 10 seasons Tulowitzki will average $15.7 million.
When the Yankees made their $15 million per year offer it was widely pointed out that Jeter would be the highest paid middle infielder in baseball if he accepted.
Now, Tulowitzki, who is considered the best overall shortstop in baseball, has moved past that mark.
Did Close and Jeter decide Tulowitzki’s deal impacted their position? Or was it simply time to forge a plan and get back to the Yankees?
After averaging $18.9 million across the past 10 seasons and making $21 million this past year, Jeter probably isn’t wild about taking a pay cut.
Nevertheless, three years at $18.9 million per would represent about a $12 million boost in what the Yankees originally offered, and if Jeter insists on a fourth year at those prices, the process could take longer to be resolved.
From the outset, it has been very clear that the Yankees and Jeter need each other. Nobody can pay Jeter what the Yankees are offering and the Yankees’ only in-house option at short is Eduardo Nunez, who, despite having a stellar minor league season this past summer, is unproven.