Derek Jeter Should Hit 8th

I’m just about as big a Derek Jeter fan as there is in the world but the facts are the facts, Derek Jeter should bat 8th in the Yankee lineup.

There was much debate and discussion over the summer about then-free agent Derek Jeter and what kind of contract he should sign. Jeter has played every one of his professional games as a Yankee and it seemed obvious that the Captain would resign with the club. However, Jeter and the Yanks spent weeks haggling over the dollar amount of the deal,  the team wanted to give Jeter about $10 million a year, a little more than a shortstop of Jeter’s age and stats should make, and Jeter wanted to be paid roughly $20 million a year, an amount that took into account his value to the fan base and the franchise’s brand. The settlement netted Jeet between $15 and $17 mill for each of the next three years and the matter was over with. The thing is, Jeter’s performance is nowhere near $15 million and he is a detriment to the team as the leadoff or number 2 hitter.

Jeter is a former Rookie of the Year, an 11 time All-Star, and has finished in the top 3 in MVP voting 3 times. He is a career .314 hitter and at the time I’m writing this only 71 hits shy of 3000 for his career. He is a fearless leader, a team player, and a stand up guy. He is definitely a future Hall of Famer. He is also hitting .167 so far this year, a year following a career worst .270 average in 2010. He also matched his full season low for home runs with only 10. Less quantitatively, Jeter’s fielding range has markedly decreased over the last few years, despite his absurd Gold Glove awards, and he seems to hit everything directly into the ground.

There was talk in the New York tabloids this winter about possibly moving Jeter to the outfield or out of the leadoff spot, although presumably to 2nd in the order. I think that even more drastic steps need to be taken considering the fact that Jeet has shown no improvement to his hitting from last season. Its time to look at the Captain for what he is now and not what he was 5, 6 ,8 years ago.

At this point in my article, I could very easily spout about 15 different stats that prove Jeter’s declining performance and bolster my overall thesis that he should hit 8th in the Yankee batting order. Instead, I’m going to talk about what I see. I watch a lot of Yankee games and I see Jeter play often, its obvious what has changed. In 2009 , when the Yankees won the

World Series on the back of a career year by Jeter, he was doing the things he does best. His patented inside out swing was lining every pitch middle away to right field but he was definitely able to turn on mistakes inside and drive them to the gap in left-center or over the wall. This was the way Jeter hit his entire career and what made him so dangerous at the plate. Since then, however, it seems like everything he hits is a ground ball. He’s late on pitches a lot but even when he hits them hard its always on the ground. His hits are just grounders that get through. Now, the easy argument to be made about this is that Jeter has lost a step, he’s 36 years old and he just cant swing a bat like he used to. I disagree. I think its something mechanical. This spring, Jeter worked with Yankee hitting coach Kevin Long to reduce his stride and make him quicker to the ball but it hasn’t really worked. I’m not a hitting expert and I’m not going to lob batting tips at Jeter from behind a computer screen but I think its got to be something else. I think he’s right to tinker with his swing. Perhaps it’s something mental messing with his approach at the plate, that’s what happened to the Met’s David Wright after he got hit in the head with a pitch.

No matter the reason for Jeter’s struggles, I sincerely believe it’s reversible. I just think that until he figures it out, the Captain should hit much lower in the lineup. The Yankees have other options for the top of the order, Brett Gardner should hit leadoff and Curtis Granderson, Nick Swisher, or even Robinson Cano could conceivably hit second.

Jeter should be allowed time to figure his hitting out (based on his salary and status he certainly will be) but he should not do it at the expense of his team. .270 with 10 HRs and 67 RBIs (Jeter’s 2010 numbers) are just fine from a shortstop hitting 8th but completely unacceptable from a top of the order guy. Until Jeet figures out whatever is causing his troubles, he should lower in the order.

-Max Frankel