MLB

Jeter ‘angry’ that talks with Yankees were so public

Derek Jeter is officially back with the Yankees, but that doesn’t mean he’s put the contentious contract negotiations completely behind him.

“I was pretty angry about it and I let that be known,’’ Jeter said after the club announced his three-year, $51 million contract at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa that includes a fourth option year that could max out at $65 million via award bonuses.

At one point during the talks, Brian Cashman reportedly told Jeter to look around if he didn’t like the team’s original three-year, $45 million offer.

“I was angry about it because I was the one who said I wasn’t going to (shop around),” Jeter said. “To hear the organization say go shop it and I just told you I wasn’t going to. Yeah, to be honest with you, I was angry about it.’’

Asked whom specifically whom he was angry at, Jeter said, “I’m not going to point the finger at anyone. We’re one big happy family.”

Jeter said he also was upset with how public things became between the two sides, when it was reported that Jeter’s agent, Casey Close, asked for significantly more than the Yankees were willing to offer.

“I’m angry at the process and how I was portrayed,” Jeter said. “I heard about greed and all of a sudden I had an ego and arrogance.”

ROCKY TALKS IN PAST

The shortstop said he didn’t want to become a free agent and told Close not to take calls from other teams.

“I wasn’t negotiating with anybody,” Jeter said. “And salary demands? I’m in no position to make salary demands. I thought it was portrayed incorrectly.”

Jeter also said he wouldn’t be considering retirement anytime soon, despite the fact he’s coming off his worst offensive season, batting .270.

“I have a lot of years left to play as a productive player,” Jeter said. “Criticism is part of the game. I’ve never shied away from that. Yeah, I’m getting older, but so is everyone else in this room. I take it year to year. You don’t look to the end of a career when you’re in the middle of a career. I feel I’m in the middle of it. … I’m going to play as long as I’m having fun.”

Of the three years that are guaranteed, Joe Girardi said, “I think he’s gonna play a lot longer than that.”

If he does, Jeter would rather avoid a similar spectacle in the future.

“The thing that bothered me the most was how public it became,” Jeter said. “It was uncomfortable. I’ve prided myself on keeping things out of the public and I’m not happy about it. I let my feelings known. I never wanted to be free agent.”

Owner Hal Steinbrenner admitted it was not an entirely smooth negotiation.

“It was difficult at times,” Steinbrenner said. “Once we sat down face-to-face last week and decided enough was enough with the media and it wasn’t good for everybody, we hammered it out.”

Cashman said, “It was a long negotiation, like they always are.”

Cashman also called Jeter “an above-average shortstop,” adding “we didn’t want him to go anywhere.”