MLB

Jeter says playing for team besides Yankees still a possibility: report

Derek Jeter acknowledged there is a possibility he may not be a Yankee for life, saying he could envision himself somewhere else.

“Well, if I wanted to keep playing, yes,” Jeter said in an interview with ESPN. “It’s a business. People forget that.”

Not Jeter.

The shortstop is signed through next season, with $17 million coming to him in 2013. But in 2014, he has a player option worth $8 million, with a $3 million buyout.

He was not available for comment after the Yankees’ 10-7 win over the Blue Jays last night at the Stadium.

When Jeter seemed to be sliding into oblivion through the first half of last year, the idea of him exercising the option, on the verge of turning 40, may have seemed outlandish.

But two more hits last night gave him 202 for the season, and he is on pace for his best offensive season since 2009, with a .323 average.

And he has shown no signs of slowing down. During his current 14-game hitting streak, he’s hitting .397, despite playing with a bone bruise on his left ankle.

It also seems he hasn’t forgotten the contentious negotiations that left him bitter even after he signed his current contract.

At his press conference in Tampa in December 2010, the normally tight-lipped Jeter voiced his displeasure toward the organization.

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“The thing that probably bothered me the most was how public this became,” Jeter said at the time. “It was not an enjoyable experience. … I’d be lying to you if I said I wasn’t angry about how some of this went. I’m not going to point the finger at anyone. As you can see now, we’re one big happy family.”

There’s no guarantee they will stay that way forever.

If Jeter does decide to opt out, he’d be guaranteed $3 million, plus whatever he could get on the free-agent market.

The market for a 40-year-old shortstop isn’t usually a very good one, but Jeter could prove to be the exception, because of his unlikely revival over the past 14 months, a potential pursuit of 4,000 hits and Pete Rose’s record of 4,256 career hits.

Jeter also has a chance to increase the 2014 option with performance-based bonuses for getting MVP votes, as well as other awards.

Both Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano will become free agents after 2013 and Jeter could see himself in the same category, especially if he continues to be this productive.

As Jeter already has proven, though, it’s virtually impossible to predict which way his career will go over the next year and change.