Derek Jeter is one of baseball’s all-time greats, and a postseason hero to boot. There’s no question, the Yankee lineup is better with the Captain in it (where in the order is another issue). But the fact remains: Jeter has been a below average defensive shortstop for some time now. In a 162 game season, the offense/defense trade off is easy to make, but it’s playoff time now. Jeter’s subpar play in the field is beginning to take a serious toll. Just look at the play in Game 2 at Baltimore: JJ Hardy didn’t score from second on a single to left, but it was only because he couldn’t believe that the routine grounder got past Jeter, who simply didn’t get to the ball. It was ugly.
Last night, Jeter fouled a ball off the top of his foot and spent the next eight or so innings hobbling around before he was mercifully replaced by Jayson Nix. This injury is revealing on a number of levels. First, Jeter insists he’s playing tonight. Of course he is. Jeter played the 2001 World Series with a broken foot, so there’s no way that a bruise (apparently the present ailment) would keep him out of the ALDS lineup.
On the other hand, manager Joe Girardi wasn’t so quick to corroborate Jeter’s assertion. If he’s really hurt, wouldn’t it benefit the Bombers to put someone like Nix or Eduardo Nunez at short and either DH or sit Jeter? He’s already a defensive liability and if he’s got a bum wheel, he’ll likely be even worse. Really, it might be good to put one of those two guys out at short anyway.
The Yankees already have A-rod issues and I’m not trying to add to the mess but this isn’t an elimination game. The Captain won’t like it, but Girardi has already proven that he’s willing to bruise some egos to put the team first.
(The dirty little secret–one that’s been bubbling under the surface for quite a while, and finally came to the fore last night–is that the Yankees’ contingent of big name, big money players just might not be that good anymore. In a couple seasons, the Yankees might be sitting on some hard to swallow realities: a $30 million bench player in Rodriguez; a captain and face of the franchise who (still) refuses to change positions despite a glaring inability to play shortstop anymore in Jeter; a first basemen making more than $20 million a year who is really no better than a six hitter in Mark Teixeira; and an overweight, overpaid ace with recurring shoulder issues in Sabathia. The Yankees are headed for a situation where, for lack of a better cliche, they are going to reap what they have sown. They will be forced to tailor lineups based on contracts and stature rather than on field performance. One could argue that that day has already dawned. And granted, increasingly more teams find themselves in some degree of that unfortunate situation, the difference though, is that the Yanks may be in a position where more than half their starting lineup fits in that category.)
-Max Frankel
Stat of the Day: Last night, Raul Ibanez became the first player ever to homer twice in a post-season game in which he was not a starter
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