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In a survey of baseball officials yesterday, it appears Derek Jeter has a steep mountain to climb if he wants to better the Yankees’ offer of three years for $45 million.
One day after general manager Brian Cashman encouraged the Yankees’ captain to shop for a better deal, the reaction throughout baseball was mild.
Of course, it only takes one team to top the Yankees, but the executives firmly believe Jeter eventually will reach an agreement with the Yankees.
“What he needs to happen, and it won’t, is for Boston to get in it to amp up the price,” an exec said. “But that’s not going to happen because he is a [Yankees] icon. And if they did that, Theo [Epstein, Red Sox GM] and Cashman would go to blows. There is nobody to drive the price up.”
A dozen years ago last night, the Yankees kept Bernie Williams away from the Red Sox by signing him to a seven-year deal worth $89 million on Thanksgiving eve. That was $2 million less than the Red Sox dangled in front of Williams, who was coming off a 1998 season in which he won the AL batting title and played a big part in the Yankees’ march to a magical season that ended with a four-game sweep of the Padres in the World Series.
Even if there was a team — and one high-ranking AL official said he thought the Orioles, Nationals, Cardinals or Giants might have an interest — the chances of Jeter leaving New York for those cities are slim.
And with Jeter believed to be looking for a five- or six-year deal upwards of $20 million a season, those clubs aren’t spending close to that. Even if they topped the $15 million per year offer, would Jeter leave for $17 million a year? Doubtful.
“Both sides are posturing, but it will get done,” an exec predicted.
“He will be 37, a three-year deal is more than a generous offer,” an NL executive said. “That’s a pretty nice offer. Jeter is a Hall of Famer who will get 3,000 hits (he is 74 shy), and that should be done as a Yankee.”
The closest Jeter will come to wearing a Red Sox uniform was on the Post’s back page yesterday. The Red Sox are comfortable with Marco Scutaro next year at $5 million and are awaiting Cuban defensive whiz Jose Inglesia in 2012.
Boston gave Inglesia $8 million despite scouting concerns that his bat will never match his glove. Those concerns remain.
“That’s going to be an interesting one to watch. He is not a runner but he can pick it,” said a talent evaluator who saw Inglesia in the Arizona Fall League. “He doesn’t look like what an impact major shortstop looks like. There isn’t a lot of pop with the bat.”
Jeter’s timing is off by a year. Had a 10-year, $189 million deal expired after the 2009 season, in which he helped the Yankees win the World Series and he batted .334, Jeter would have had the hammer. Instead, he is coming off a year in which he batted a career-low .270.
And it’s clear that Hal Steinbrenner doesn’t view the Yankees through the emotional lenses used by his late father, George.
At the beginning of this process, Steinbrenner promised he was running a business. Casey Close, Jeter’s agent, responded by saying Jeter was treating it as a business, too.
Nothing has changed. Eventually it will.
The Yankees might increase the money or go to a fourth year. The Yankees are all Jeter knows, and he wants to stay.