I noticed a new Derek Jeter story in the Tuesday New York Times: “Calculating The Value Of Jeter’s Legacy.” The general premise seems to be that if the New York Yankees can figure out how much Jeter’s “legacy” is worth to them, they will then know how much to pay their hit-the-wall 36-year-old shortstop.
The Yankees, meanwhile, appear to be taking that thought-process to heart. Look no further than this ESPNNewYork report that the team has already decided to give Jeter “Ryan Howard money for Marco Scutaro numbers.”
From that ESPN report: “The Yankees are going to overpay him,” said a source with intimate knowledge of the discussions between the team and Jeter’s agent, Casey Close. “The question is, how much are they going to overpay him?”
Problem is, the Yankees already own Derek Jeter’s “legacy.” Why in the hell would they pay for it again?
Hypothetically, let’s pretend the Yankees did not re-sign Jeter this offseason and went to play in Detroit for three years. He still goes into the Hall of Fame as a Yankee. He still has his number retired by the team at some point after he’s retired. He still, hopefully far into the future, has a monument at Yankee Stadium next to those of Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Miller Huggins, Mickey Mantle and Joe DiMaggio.
The Jeter legacy is more than securely tied to the Yankees for all time. The team already paid for that privilege once, just as they have already paid for previous services rendered.
Want proof? Ninety years later, who is the name still most associated with the “legacy” of the New York Yankees? Did you answer Babe Ruth? I would hope not. After all, the Babe neither began nor finished his career with the Yankees. And that in a time where there was no free agency. Today, any player, even a star player, lasting his entire career with one organization is the exception, not the rule.
Nevertheless, Ruth is tied to the Yankees like no other athlete is to any other team in any other sport in history. The old Yankee Stadium, you might remember, was and will forever be “The House that Ruth Built.” The Yankees still honor his heroics and still sell tons of No. 3 jerseys.
The Yankees and Jeter’s agent can attempt to spin this any way they choose. But to pay a 36-year-old shortstop in steep decline the kind of premium dollars being discussed with Jeter is ridiculous. He has no range, no arm and no power. Intangibles are only worth so much.
Anybody in favor of committing 10 percent of the entire player payroll budget for the next three or four years to Babe Ruth? He used to be really good, don’t ya know.
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com