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It’s reportedly happened; Derek Jeter will be wearing the immaculate pinstripes for a few more years.

A source with knowledge has told ESPN that Derek Jeter has re-signed for a three year contract that will pay him $17 million. The end of the contract has an option for a fourth year at a lower salary the report says.

Now it’s time for Cashman to focus in on big fish Carl Crawford and Cliff Lee at the Winter Meetings. With Jeter out of the way now, the Yankees know what they can do and how much lenience they have with the money they will undoubtedly toss around.

It was expected for Jeter to return home to New York. When you think of the Yankees, you think of Jeter. He is synonymous with the Yankee brand. Jeter is coming off his worst statistical year to date, batting .270 which is 40 points lower then his career batting average of .314.

His new contract keeps him ahead of the recently extended contract of Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. Jeter’s reported new contract will also give him a pay cut of $2 million from his ten year $189 million contract he signed back in 2000. 

Jeter was reportedly asking for a four to six year deal worth between $22 and $24 million. Derek may have ended up far below his asking price but, you can’t put a price on a championship.

Jeter was asked to take a “reality potion” because of his demands and asked to test the market. Reports will probably spill out this week as to who has contacted the Yankee captain.

Now comes the the part where parades fill the streets of New York as Jeter will be a Yankee for three more (possibly four) and dominate like he always has.

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Buster Olney of ESPN reports that the New York Yankees are very much “engaged in conversations” with Carl Crawford’s representation.

But would that be a good thing for the Yankees if he were indeed signed to wear the glorious pinstripes?

There is no denying how great of a player Carl Crawford is. Crawford has accumulated a lifetime batting average of .296 with almost 1,500 hits and a grand total of 409 stolen bases. He is as fast as they come and can make any defensive play in the outfield.

Crawford came up with the AL East division rival Tampa Bay Rays in 2002. He has been there through the good, the bad and the ugly. He is the major key in their revival, along with first baseman Carlos Pena and third baseman Evan Longoria. Crawford is one of the few remaining pieces of the team that was once called the Devil Rays.

He has been extraordinary with the Rays, but does that mean he should become a Yankee? Crawford has been linked to numerous teams, including the hated Boston Red Sox. Crawford is surely going to command a huge deal and in doing so could effectively derail the Yankees’ bid to get pitching ace Cliff Lee. Crawford is thought to be seeking an eight-year deal.

What the Yankees apparently are not taking into consideration is the already crowded outfield they have. However, Carl Crawford would still be a great catch for the New York ball club.

The Yankees have outfielders Nick Swisher, Curtis Granderson and Brett Gardner. With the signing of Carl Crawford, one would surely go, and my consensus pick would be Swishalicious.

Adding Crawford to an outfield of Granderson and Gardner gives the Yankees the fastest outfield in the entire league. There would be no one who would want to hit in that direction. Everything hit out there would effectively be caught.

Granderson last year at times had looked shaky at the plate and only finished with a .247 batting average, which is 21 points lower then his career batting average of .268. Gardner is not known for his hitting. Whenever Gardner gets a hit, it is either a slap hit or an infield single. But once he gets on the basepaths, he is beyond dangerous and can score from any base.

Then comes Swisher, who still has yet to perform in the postseason, and his claim to fame with the Yankees is he is a great locker room influence in a clubhouse that was once somber.

Crawford would be a great sign, as he brings more speed and gives the Yankees lineup a deathly look. Granderson and Crawford in the one and two spots? Then batting third, fourth and fifth would be Alex Rodriguez, Mark Teixeira and Robinson Cano? You have got to be kidding me. That spells disaster for anybody facing them.

Two problems with signing Crawford are the crowded outfield and, yes, I am going to say this, his career batting average of .222 against Cliff Lee. That is a huge statistic because the signing of Carl Crawford could spell the end of the Yankees’ chase for Lee.

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There has been a lot of talk surrounding the New York Yankees this off-season like usual. Does Derek Jeter return? Does Andy Pettitte give it one more? Do they acquire Cliff Lee?

It boils down to a bunch of different scenarios this off-season. The Yankees can do any number of moves this year and have already started changing up their team for next season. I decided to jump in and take a look at who will possibly be in pinstripes next season.

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Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” will be playing over New Yankee Stadium’s loud speakers for at least two more seasons.

Mariano Rivera just signed a two-year deal that will be worth around $30 million. In comparison it’s virtually the same deal he has had the last three seasons in which he has made $15 million each year.

Rivera is coming off another excellent season out of the bullpen and, at age 41, he shows no signs of slowing down. Last season Rivera had excellent numbers posting a 1.80 ERA and saved 33 out of 38 games.

Mariano has surely been the most dominant closer in MLB history having both the most saves in AL and Yankees history. That will only continue as Rivera has not lost any of his pitching prowess.

He has been a dominant closer in the postseason as well. Rivera holds career playoff records for most saves (42) and lowest ERA (0.71). Looking at his appearances from this last postseason, Rivera is surely still in that demigod form only allowing four hits and no runs.

There is no denying what Rivera has done for the Yankee franchise. Unfortunately, he cannot be named “Mr. October” even though he is very well deserving of that title. Rivera is the most clutch pitcher and even the most clutch player of all time. When Mariano trots out of that bullpen, everyone in the stadium knows what is about to happen. Mariano Rivera is going to have another lights-out performance.

So with the signing of Rivera it leaves Derek Jeter and Andy Pettitte as the two remaining players that need to be re-signed. But, with Rivera, closer is not a huge opening like it would have been. Instead, it’s a hole filled by none other than the Sandman himself, Mariano Rivera.

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For 15 years, Derek Jeter has worn the immortal pinstripes. In that time, he has made a name for himself, becoming the first Yankees captain since the retirement of Don Mattingly, bringing the world renowned New York Yankees five more titles and ultimately becoming the Yankees all-time hit leader and becoming 74 hits away from baseball immortality with 3,000 hits.

Jeter is forever the iconic Yankee, the one everyone will try to emulate. There is no denying his accomplishments and what he brings to the table marketing-wise. Derek Jeter is the Yankees and the New York Yankees are Derek Jeter—there is no going around it.

Watching him play and his true professionalism on and off the field during his tenure has been truly a privilege and an honor. Never will another Derek Jeter grace the field at New Yankee Stadium.

New Yankee Stadium was supposed to become “The House that Jeter Built” but, as of right now it seems like that idea might be put on hold.

The Yankees have had hardball negotiations with the 11-time All-Star. His numbers last year read something like this; .270 batting average, 10 home runs and 67 runs batted in, playing in 157 games.

That batting average is 44 points off his career batting average of .314, and in fact, it is his worst batting average ever. Even with those poor numbers and his range at shortstop clearly diminishing, Derek Jeter was able to win the Gold Glove this season and rightfully deserved. No one plays shortstop like Jeter, not one player.

All in all, what the Yankees are doing is wrong but understandable. Why give $25 million and four years to a guy whose starting to act his age? No team wants to pay a 36-year-old shortstop who soon won’t be able to play shortstop anymore that kind of money. It is absurd to say the least.

But, you have to look at it from this angle, that this is after all Derek Jeter. He can’t play anywhere else. That is like Joe Montana playing for the Chiefs, or when Michael Jordan came back and played for the Wizards or Brett Favre in a Vikings uniform.

It is Derek Jeter—you can’t get around that. He is the Yankees captain and will forever have that title he so rightfully earned. This upcoming season, barring some long lasting injury (knock on wood), Jeter will break 3,000 hits.

Look, Jeter was due for a down year. Everyone who plays or watches sports knows every player eventually hits that snag. It just did not happen with Jeter until he was 36.

Fact of the matter is Jeter deserves a four-year contract and whatever increase the Yankees are now giving him. So what if he is diminishing in his play.

There would be riots in the streets if Jeter were to play for another team; it would be blasphemy at it’s finest. You can’t avoid the public onslaught that would ensue if Jeter left.

The Yankees need to offer him a contract that would suit Jeter no matter how long. What he brings to the table can’t be defined by stats at all. It can’t be described by anything else but watching the glorious No. 2 get on the fresh cut field of New Yankee Stadium in pinstripes and in nothing else.

Although writing this, I am biased toward the Yankees, but as a sports fan, this is wrong on so many levels. It is worse than Favre, worse than Jordan and worse than Montana.

If Jeter were to leave, it would not only be big news just in the United States but around the world just because of what the Yankees, and Jeter, stand for.

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