Jayson Stark
MLB
  Scores
  Schedules
  Standings
  Statistics
  Transactions
  Injuries: AL | NL
  Players
  Offseason moves
  Free Agents
  Message Board
  Minor Leagues
  MLB Stat Search
  MLB en espaņol

Clubhouses

SportsMall
  Shop@ESPN.com
  NikeTown
  TeamStore


Sport Sections
Friday, February 9
Rumblings and Grumblings



He's never hit 25 home runs in a season. He's driven in 100 runs once. He had a lower OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) last year than Jorge Posada or Brad Fullmer.

So is Derek Jeter worth 189 million of George Steinbrenner's hard-earned dollar bills?

Derek Jeter
Jeter hit .339 last year and owns a career average of .322.

You bet he is.

OK, you could make a case that nobody is worth $189 million. Not Michael Jordan. Not Julia Roberts. Not Bill Gates. Not anybody.

But if we're going to assume the current baseball pay scales are reality -- as opposed to insanity -- then we'd rather see Derek Jeter get a 10-year, $189-million contract than, say, Izzy Alcantara.

"It's like buying stock in Coca-Cola," says one AL front-office man. "He's a solid stock. He's not some dot-com where you don't know where he came from or where he's going. He's got a good background. He's laid a good foundation. You know Derek Jeter is a good buy, if anyone is."

He may not make as many home run trots as A-Rod or Nomar. But he's a hit machine. And he's a run-scoring machine. And he's a walking instructional film on how to play shortstop.

Triviality
Whether or not Dave Winfield wears his Padres cap into the Hall of Fame, he's still only the fourth player to be elected to the Hall who was a Padre at any time in his career. Can you name the other three?

(Answer at bottom.)

But he's more.

Derek Jeter is The Man on The Team that has won four World Series in the last five years. And that counts for more than the total of any of his numbers.

"You can sum him up in six words," says another AL executive. "He's the heart of the Yankees."

Had this contract crept up there into the range of $22 million or $23 million a year, everyone would have had a right to shake their heads and say, "That Steinbrenner has gone off the deep end again."

But at just under $19 million a year, this is a contract that actually seems relatively sane -- as long as you can accept the premise that anyone in sports deserves 10 guaranteed years to do anything more taxing than wiping down the hot-dog stand.

"He's 26," says Exec. No. 2. "He's in perfect shape. He's not a guy who is ever going to give you trouble. So if ever you could say a 10-year deal is safe, this would be the guy."

Derek Jeter is The Man on The Team that has won four World Series in the last five years. And that counts for more than the total of any of his numbers.

When you compare this contract to the rest of this winter's big signings, you measure it against two sets of factors.

One, obviously, is the A-Rod deal. But that wasn't a baseball contract. That was a corporate acquisition. No contract can be stacked up next to that one, because Rangers cash disseminator Tom Hicks was a guy going way beyond the bounds of common economic sense to put his franchise on the map.

So while A-Rod's contract framed the Jeter negotiations, the more reasonable comparison in this case is to the deals signed by Jeff Bagwell and Carlos Delgado -- the other two megastars who stayed with their current teams.

Those two got contracts averaging $17 million a year. Jeter, meanwhile, will average nearly $19 million.

True, Bagwell and Delgado are monstrous middle-of-the-order run producers. But Jeter is younger. His contract is twice the length. He gets a premium for doing what he's done in New York. (That's the way this works, folks.) And he gets a premium for being the leader and marquee attraction of the four-time champs.

So he's a man getting paid what he's earned. It's that simple.

"He's the cornerstone of that franchise," said Exec. No. 1. "Of all of them, he's the guy they can't afford to lose. If they lose Derek Jeter, how do they replace him? They can't. He plays a premium position, at a young age. They can afford to lose almost anyone else on that team. But they can't lose him.

"There are only a handful of guys who you know the money won't ever change. And he's one of them. So if you're going to put big money into anybody, he's it. Look at how he's evolved. Look at how he's expanded his talent and his responsibility over the last four or five years. Not a lot of kids could go into New York at his age and do what he's done. But he can handle it, from a mental and physical standpoint. And that makes him a rare kind of guy."

Oh, A-Rod's numbers might be more photogenic. But Derek Jeter just rolls those big-time seasons off his assembly line, year after year, as the bright lines follow his every step.

Who is the only player in baseball to top 200 hits in each of the last three seasons? Derek Jeter.

Who is the only player in baseball to top 110 runs scored in each of the last four seasons? Derek Jeter.

He has averaged 203 hits a year and 124 runs a year in the four seasons since he established himself as a premier player. No one has more hits in that time. Only Jeff Bagwell (132 a year) has scored more runs.

And then there's the defensive portion of the proceedings. Statistically, A-Rod and Nomar look better on paper. But statistics can't measure Jeter's instinctive feel for his position -- and all it entails.

"That throw in Game 1 of the World Series (to nail Timo Perez at the plate) -- that was the play of the Series," says an AL scout. "I said in my reports: 'This guy is better at taking relays and turning them into outs than anyone in the game.' He takes bad throws and turns them into good throws because of his athleticism and his feel for the game. And that throw was the perfect example of it."

No one can read the future, of course. No one knows where the highway will lead Derek Jeter five or eight or 10 years from today. But it's amazing how few people are questioning the length of this commitment to this special player.

"It's like buying a house," says Exec. No. 1. "You want to buy something that looks like it's going to last, something where 10 or 20 years from now, you'll still feel good about what you bought. And he's it. If Derek Jeter turns into a knucklehead, there's no hope for the game. I think he's as sure a thing as there is."

He's so sure a thing, in fact, the Yankees are betting 189 million bucks on him. And the incredible thing is: It's hard to find anyone who even thinks they're crazy.

Miscellaneous Rumblings
  • We can debate for the next 10 years which of the three shortstops in the old Holy Trinity is best. But here's how they rank over the last four years in five major offensive categories -- hits, runs, home runs, RBI and stolen bases:

    Hits
    Jeter 813
    Garciaparra 791
    Rodriguez 707

    Runs
    Jeter 496
    Rodriguez 467
    Garciaparra 440

    Home runs
    Rodriguez 148
    Garciaparra 113
    Jeter 68

    RBI
    Rodriguez 451
    Garciaparra 420
    Jeter 329

    Stolen bases
    Rodriguez 111
    Jeter 94
    Garciaparra 53

  • Among all players, the leaders in hits over the last four years:

    Jeter 813
    Garciaparra 791
    Cirillo 754
    Bichette 738
    Sosa 732
    Belle 712
    Glanville 710
    E. Martinez 707
    A. Rodriguez 707

  • And among all players, the leaders in runs scored over the last four years:

    Bagwell 528
    Jeter 496
    Griffey 468
    A. Rodriguez 467
    Durham 462
    Bonds 463
    Biggio 459
    C. Jones 457
    Sosa 444

  • As spring training dawns, you no doubt will be hearing the usual talk that only teams with big payrolls have a chance to make the playoffs. Well, this just in: Of the 10 teams with the highest opening-day payrolls last season, seven didn't make it to the postseason: the Dodgers, Orioles, Diamondbacks, Red Sox, Indians, Rangers and Devil Rays.

    So as many teams from the bottom six clubs in opening-day payroll (A's, White sox) made it as made it from the top five (Yankees, Mets).

  • Sammy Sosa said all the right things at his appearance in Chicago over the weekend. But privately, Sosa has been telling people that if he can't work out a long-term deal with the Cubs, he would prefer to be traded to a team that will sign him.

    Contrary to reports that he wants a $100-million extension, a five-year deal in the neighborhood of $90 million (or around $18 million a year) would probably get it done. It's been widely reported that the Cubs' last offer was four years, $68 million ($17 million a year).

  • Dave Winfield and Kirby Puckett may be working on their speeches, but the Hall of Fame drama isn't over yet. The rest of this year's Hall induction class will be deterrmined over the next several weeks.

    First up, later this month, the Ford Frick Award committee has to elect a candidate to the broadcasters' wing. The favorites: dulcet Phillies voice Harry Kalas or legendary Brewers broadcast-wit Bob Uecker.

    Then, on March 6, the Veterans Committee has some fascinating choices. Bill Mazeroski reportedly missed election by one vote last year. So he would seem the most likely choice. But Gil Hodges continues to get support. And Tony Oliva and Ron Santo are up for the first time after failing to be elected by the writers.

    Also on the agenda in a separate category is the name of Marvin Miller, whose leadership of the union in its early days make him one of the most influential baseball people in the 20th century. But the committee can choose only one executive, manager or umpire. So Miller could get edged out by Dick Williams, who had been viewed as a favorite for election last year until an embarrassing public incident and the Sparky Anderson groundswell did him in.

  • Gus Dominguez, the agent for Cuban third baseman Andy Morales, continues to claim that four teams are pursuing Morales. But one baseball official calls that talk "complete bull." The only team that appears to be still in the hunt for Morales is the Yankees. The Red Sox and Expos also had interest at one time. But apparently they've now dropped out. Dominguez is asking for $6 million and a major-league contract for Morales, whom one team's director of international scouting says "might end up just being a utility infielder" because "he's not going to give you the power you'd like at the corners."

  • The Diamondbacks are talking to Randy Johnson about reworking his contract. The Unit is already deferring $6 million a year of his $12.35 million salary in each of the next two years. But the club has asked if he would be willing to defer even more of that salary in 2001-02 in exchange for having his option picked up for 2003. That option is worth $15 million a year if the Unit wins the Cy Young in 2002, $13.5 million if he finishes in the top five in the voting and $12 million if neither of the above happens.

  • It's a week and a half until spring training, and Rickey Henderson still doesn't have a serious offer. Rickey needs 86 hits to get to 3,000. And if he never gets another, he'll be one of only five players whose careers started after 1900 to get within 100 hits of 3,000 but never get there. The others: Sam Rice (2,987), Frank Robinson (2,943), Rogers Hornsby (2,930) and Al Simmons (2,927).

    Useless information dept.
  • The Braves are clearly counting on big things from John Smoltz. But history (speaking through its interpreter, the Elias Sports Bureau) tells us that in the last 25 seasons, only two pitchers came back to win 15 games or more, a year after missing an entire season in the big leagues for any reason.

    And even more bad news for the Smoltz Fan Club: They were both knuckleballers. According to Elias' Rob Tracy and Kevin Hines, the last was Tim Wakefield in 1995. But he wasn't hurt. He'd just been exiled to Triple-A by the Pirates. The other was Tom Candiotti in 1986. (Ditto, by the Brewers).

    The only others in the last 40 years: Gary Nolan in 1975 (after missing most of the previous two seasons with shoulder trouble) and Jim Palmer in 1969 (after battling shoulder and back problems for two years).

    The numbers for those four in their comeback seasons:

    Year Pitcher Team W-L ERA
    1995 Tim Wakefield Red Sox 16-8 2.95
    1986 Tom Candiotti Indians 16-12 3.57
    1975 Gary Nolan Reds 15-9 3.16
    1969 Jim Palmer Orioles 16-4 2.34

  • Who are the best set-up men in baseball? Lowest batting averages against NL set-up men last year (50 appearances or more):

    Mike Myers, Col. .160
    Byung-Hyun Kim, Ari. .200
    Mike Fetters, L.A. .205
    Kevin Walker, S.D. .206
    Turk Wendell, NYM .206

  • Lowest against AL set-up men (and Mariners opponents should be taking notes):

    Jeff Nelson, NYY .183
    Arthur Rhodes, Sea. .205
    Bobby Howry, Chi. .216
    Paul Shuey, Cle. .219
    Kelly Wunsch, Chi. .229

  • Another reason for Cal Ripken to try to make it through the year: If he can play in 127 more games, he'll become only the fourth player in history to play 3,000 games with one team -- and just the third to do so for only one team.

    The others:

    Carl Yastrzemski: 3,308 games, Red Sox
    Stan Musial: 3,026, Cardinals
    Hank Aaron: 3,076, Braves (plus 222 with the Brewers)

  • Ripken also leads all active players in most home runs hit for his original team (417). The only other players with 200 or more career homers who are still playing for their original teams (without leaving and then returning):

    Frank Thomas 344
    Jeff Bagwell 310
    Eric Karros 242
    Jim Thome 233
    Tim Salmon 230
    Ray Lankford 207

  • Another year, another spring-training site for Jim Leyritz (this time Port St. Lucie). But where will he end the season? That's always the question for the King.

    The New York Times' Tyler Kepner points out that Leyritz has changed teams in midseason four straight years. And according to Elias' Rob Tracy and Kevin Hines, that's the longest current streak by an active player.

    Active players with a streak of three or more consecutive mid-year address changes at any point in their careers:

    Streak Player Years
    4 Jim Leyritz 1997-2000
    4 Rick Wilkins 1995-1998
    3 Rich Becker 1998-2000
    3 Jason Bere 1998-2000
    3 Shawon Dunston 1997-1999
    3 Jorge Fabregas 1997-1999
    3 Lenny Harris 1998-2000
    3 Gregg Olson 1995-1997
    3 Ruben Sierra 1995-1997
    3 David Weathers 1996-1998

  • Finally, if you missed the coaching hire of the year, the Atlantic City Surf (Atlantic League) named the one and only Mitch Williams as pitching coach last week.

    This wouldn't quite be the equivalent of the Dolphins hiring Garo Yepremian as quarterbacks coach. But you might recall that the Wild Thing wasn't known for his Tom Seaver-esque delivery.

    And if he ever preaches, "Throw strikes," he might get bigger laughs than Letterman. (He walked 7.1 per nine innings in his career -- and loaded the bases, all by himself, in 14 of his saves.)

    So we asked his buddy and former teammate Larry Andersen to compile the Top Five Unique Things Mitch Can Teach His Pitchers. Here goes:

    5) How to pitch like their hair's on fire
    4) How to cover home on a wild pitch with a man on third
    3) How to land on your glove hand after follow-through
    2) How to walk the bases loaded and then strike out the side
    And No. 1) How to make the manager start smoking (or start again)

    Trivia answer
    Gaylord Perry, Roland G. Fingers, Willie McCovey.

    Jayson Stark is a Senior Writer at ESPN.com.

    Send this story to a friend
  •  




    ALSO SEE
    Rivera, Yankees close to four-year deal

    Neyer: Jeter's no A-Rod or Nomar

    Klapisch: It's now Jeter's team

    Jayson Stark archive