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Michael Pineda, the future staff ace, didn’t make it out of spring training. Mariano Rivera, the closer of all closers, was sidelined for the season by a freakish injury suffered while shagging fly balls during batting practice in Kansas City.

Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira are putting up numbers that would be acceptable for players making half their salary, and catcher Russell Martin is struggling to hit his weight.

And yet here are the New York Yankees sailing along with the best record in baseball at the All-Star break.

Why?

Well, because Derek Jeter carried them through a difficult first month or so of the season. Andy Pettitte came out of retirement to solidify the starting rotation. Rafael Soriano stepped in admirably for Rivera. And a cast of extras on the bench and in the bullpen has responded with timely hits and shutdown relief work.

The Yankees are winning even though Robinson Cano and perhaps Jeter will finish the season with a batting average near or above .300. The Bronx Bombers are winning because they are living up to their nickname by leading the majors in home runs.

So while CC Sabathia may be the only starter you may bet the house on every time he pitches, the Yankees are getting contributions from all 25 players on the roster. One of their strengths is their depth, and that has enabled them to survive injuries to key players such as Rivera, Brett Gardner and Pineda.

Let’s give props to some of those who have played a supporting role.

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Derek Jeter is one of the best players to ever play the game for the Yankees. When you are a legend in your sport, you get rewarded with millions of dollars – and a revolving door of hot girlfriends.

We have seen Jeter with numerous ladies that we expected – and often hoped – he would finally settle down with. Every time the public has come to expect him to finally have found the ‘one,’ we get another one of those breakup tabloids.

Let’s take a look at 11 of the almost Mrs. Jeter’s.

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In January of this year, the New York Times ran a story that said the Yankees are saving now for a potential free-agency splash next winter. The story highlighted hurlers Matt Cain of the Giants and Cole Hamel of the Phillies as potential targets for the pinstripes.

But could the Yankees be loading up the ole piggy bank for the heir apparent to Derek Jeter?

Could it be that the Bronx Bombers are eyeballing Starlin Castro, the sweet-swinging shortstop for an annually afflicted Chicago Cubs franchise?

At first this question seems preposterous, especially in light of how well Jeter has been playing thus far this season.

But looking big picture, a few things have occurred in the past month that points to the potential for Castro to eventually become a Yankee.

First, Castro is eligible for arbitration after the 2012 season. While the Cubs have signed Castro through 2012, new Cubs GM Theo Epstein has yet to commit to Castro long-term. Reasons for this vary, which will be highlighted in a moment.

Second, Castro’s at-times attention deficit at shortstop has sparked Chicago radio pundits to float the opinion balloon that Castro should move to the outfield.  

To this, I say perfecto!

Yankees outfielder Nick Swisher is a free agent after this season.  According to ESPN New York writer Wallace Matthews, Swisher intends to test the free agent market in 2013.

Andruw Jones will also become a free agent. And there is no guarantee the Yankees will re-sign him.

The Cubs could give Castro some serious on-the-job-training in right field. Castro could then learn the ins and outs of the position, en route to becoming the right fielder for the Yankees next season.

Once a Yankee, Castro would receive mentorship from Jeter on how to properly prepare to play shortstop every day for one of the greatest baseball teams in world history.

Who better for a young phenom like Castro to receive mentorship from?

Then when Jeter finally hangs the spikes up in a few campaigns, the Yankees can seamlessly slip Castro into Jeter’s position.

Castro and Cano.

Has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it?

Two .300-hitting ballplayers playing middle infield together in New York over the next decade.

Let daydreaming by Yankee fans out school and office windows begin.

Let collectors of skyrocketing Castro rookie cards and memorabilia feel like kids once again.  

Hark the Herald Angels [who for the record love the New York Yankees] Sing…

All right, all right; snap out of it!

Back to reality, we all know Mr. Epstein is much smarter than letting the Cubbies best player in years get away without receiving anything in return. After all, Epstein did not shrewdly transform the Red Sox into World Champions without some intelligent aggressiveness.

Barring insanity, Epstein will keep Castro at shortstop for now, amid a backdrop of taking trade offers from other ball clubs. Perhaps in time, Epstein will ship Castro out of Chicago as part of a mega deal. 

What a great way for a struggling club to load up on young arms and bats, than to trade away a phenom like Castro to a contender. A phenom, by the way, who makes just $567K. In baseball, this is chump change.

And do not think for one hot second the Boston Red Sox do not have their scopes set on Castro, either. If Jose Iglesias’ bat does not join his spectacular defense at shortstop, Boston will also enter the Castro sweepstakes.

Then again, Epstein could just step in and sign Castro this summer, and thus make him the face of the Cubs for the next decade. Trade or sign, the opinion Castro becomes a New York Yankee will thus become null and void. And Castro could go on to become our generation’s Ernie Banks.

But as all baseball fans can attest, the Yankees have proven time and time again throughout their history, when they want someone, they usually go all-out to get them.

James is a huge baseball fan who loves to write and make new friends. You can follow James on Twitter by clicking HITHA!

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Count Derek Jeter as one of the biggest early-season surprises in baseball.

Only a couple of months from his 38th birthday, the Yankee captain has had perhaps the best start of his Hall of Fame career. He entered the second game of the series against the Texas Rangers batting .411 with 30 hits and a 1.08 OPS.

Never known as a home run hitter, Jeter has four homers this season compared to six in all of 2011. It wouldn’t be realistic to expect him to keep up this kind of pace, but the resurgence at the plate has helped the Yankees overcome some shoddy starting pitching to lead the American League East.

It also got us to thinking about how some other players performed when they reached Jeter’s age. Barry Bonds obviously set the bar at a level most 38 year olds could never reach when he batted .341 with 45 home runs and 90 RBI in 2003.

Bonds walked 148 times that season and had an off-the-charts OPS of 1.278.

But we’re reluctant to use Bonds as the benchmark for aging players because of the steroids cloud that  surrounds him. He was a great player before the steroid controversy tarnished his reputation and accomplishments but it’s hard to envision anyone putting up the numbers he did without some pharmaceutical help.

So we’re going to take a random sampling of position players who were still contributing in a major way when they turned 38. It’s by no means a complete list so don’t be offended if your favorite geezer is left out.

It demonstrates, however, that Jeter may be able to turn back the clock this season and give fans an encore presentation from his youth.

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It was 9-0 in the fifth inning.

Everything was looking in favor of the Red Sox on Saturday after they had chased Freddy Garcia in the second inning and forced Joe Girardi to go to the bullpen.

The “it was” phrase is a common phrase uttered a lot in Boston.

Like, it was 3-2 in the 1986 World Series. And it was 5-2 in the eighth inning of the 2003 ALCS.

On Saturday, it was 9-0 Red Sox heading into the sixth inning.

Mark Teixeira homers off of Boston starter Felix Doubront to make it 9-1.

It’s still a steep hill to climb, but in Fenway, you can never count out a loaded offense, especially the Yankees.

In the seventh inning, the momentum changed in the entire game.

Off Vicente Padilla, Nick Swisher smashes a grand slam over the Green Monster, which cut it from 9-1 to 9-5.

With that one swing, the Yankees had a pulse, and Boston knew they were in deep trouble.

Three batters later, Teixiera cranks out his second home run of the game, a three-run shot off Matt Albers over the Green Monster, and it was 9-8.

From 9-0 to 9-8 in a matter of two innings. The Red Sox couldn’t stop the bleeding, because the Yankees were far from done.

In the top of the eighth, Swisher cranks a double over the head of Cody Ross, which scored two and gave the Yankees the lead at 10-9.

Teixeira, already having a monster game, hits a two-run ground run double that made it 12-9.

Two batters later, Russell Martin hits a two-run double over Ross’ head to make it 14-9.

Derek Jeter’s infield single made it 15-9, and that’s where it held for the rest of the game.

The Yankees looked like they would get smoked out of the ballpark on Saturday, and then all it took was two huge innings.

A seven-run seventh inning and a seven-run eighth inning and Red Sox Nation went from having a great time to watching a live nightmare before their eyes.

The Boston bullpen is the major culprit of this one, as they wasted a solid performance by their starter Doubront.

The Red Sox bullpen allowed 12 hits, 14 runs, walked four and allowed two home runs.

Former Yankee and current Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves took the loss and had his ERA soar all the way up to 24.00

The Boston bullpen has been downright dreadful in 2012 and in Saturday’s game, it really got exposed on national TV.

For both Swisher and Teixeira, what a breakout game to have.

Swisher goes 3-for-6 with six RBI and the grand slam. Texieira also goes 3-for-6 with six RBI and the  two huge home runs.

Jeter continues his hot April by going 3-for-4 and bumped his average up to .382.

Garcia, as expected, pitched a lousy game and got bailed out by his offense.

As soon as Andy Pettitte is ready to get called up to the majors, Garcia will not have a spot in the Yankees rotation anymore.

Nobody was expecting this type of comeback by the Yankees after falling behind 9-0, but this is one of the most historic comeback victories that only adds to the rivalry.

The Yankees have done this so many times to the Red Sox.

The one-game playoff in 1978 that saw Bucky Dent hit the homer over the monster.

The three-run eighth inning rally off Pedro Martinez in the 2003 ALCS, followed by Aaron Boone’s home run in the 11th off Tim Wakefield.

Starting 0-9 head-to-head in 2009 and winning 10-of-11 against Boston to win the A.L. East.

The Boston Massacre of 1978 and again in 2006.

You can now add April 21, 2012, into the history books as another chapter of the Yankees-Red Sox feud and rivalry with this historic comeback victory.

The Yankees have already won the series by taking the first two games. On ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball, led by C.C. Sabathia, the Yankees will attempt the sweep.

Stay tuned, Yankees Universe.

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Derek Jeter is absolutely on fire so far this season.

In 10 games (45 at-bats), he already has three home runs and seven RBI. He owns a line of .378/.404/.667.

He’s currently carrying the New York Yankees offense, as the middle of the order hasn’t been able to get the job done in the early goings.

At the ripe old age of 37, Jeter is proving that a player at the end of his career can still be a big contributor.

Many fans and experts wrote off Jeter after his down season in 2010. Playing for a new contract, Jeter just couldn’t seem to put it together. He recorded a line of .270/.340/.370 with 10 home runs and 67 RBI.

By his standards, that just wasn’t good enough.

He signed a three-year, $51 million contract that offseason. Many immediately questioned the high dollar figure attached to a player clearly on the decline.

The first half of the 2011 season seemed to support those claims. He produced at a similar level to 2010, hitting .270/.330/.353 with three home runs and 24 RBI.

In the second half, he turned things around in a big way.

He finished off the season strong, hitting .327/.383/.428 with three home runs and 37 RBI. Analysts around the league chalked up his strong finish as a fluke—he’s still past his prime, they said.

Well, Jeter aimed to silence his doubters once again in 2012, and he has definitely done that through the first 10 games.

Jeter will be 38 in June, and it seems as if he won’t be slowing down any time soon. With a productive season, we’ll have no choice but to stop questioning the value of his latest contract.

Who knows? Maybe Jeter will be in line for another short-term deal after the current one expires after the 2013 season.

If he can still produce, I say why not?

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Jacoby Ellsbury hit the 15-day disabled list today with a subluxation (dislocation) of his right shoulder, incurred when Reid Brignac fell on it in Friday’s game. There is no sure return date for Ellsbury, or what condition he will be in when he does, but recall that Derek Jeter incurred the same injury under similar circumstances on Opening Day in 2003 and came back in good form almost exactly six weeks later.

It was the top of the sixth inning in Toronto. Jeter had drawn a walk off of Roy Halladay. Jason Giambi tapped back to the mound. Halladay threw to first baseman Carlos Delgado at first for the out, but Jeter was still running towards third, which was uncovered. Blue Jays catcher Ken Huckaby raced up the line to take the throw. Delgado fired.

The throw was high, and Huckaby, in full gear, leaped for it just as Jeter was diving into the bag. What goes up must come down, and Huckaby’s knees, shin guards and all, landed on Jeter’s left shoulder.

The key to Jeter’s quick return was that he had done only slight damage to his labrum and had not torn the rotator cuff. That meant no surgical intervention was necessary. Had it been required, Jeter would have missed most of the season.

The Red Sox can only hope for such an outcome. They called up confirmed non-hitter Che-Hsuan Lin to replace Ellsbury on the roster, but he’s no real help. They can only hope Carl Crawford returns quickly and that he hits the way he did as a Ray (unlikely, for various environmental reasons). Should he do so, that may solve some of the team’s offensive shortfalls but will still leave the team without a top center fielder.

The Red Sox were just off to a slow start before. Now they’re in trouble.

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Range Factor is a measurement of a defensive player’s range. It is a simple statistic that is calculated by adding a fielder’s put outs and assists, multiplying that number by nine and dividing the result by games played.

Derek Jeter is rated as an average defensive player by some “experts.” Others consider him to be and to have been below average.

Range Factor for an infielder is dependent upon the number of ground balls put into play. Maybe, I hoped, that if they didn’t hit many ground balls, I could rationalize Jeter’s RF.  A batter that strikes out doesn’t hit a ground ball.

The following table lists Jeter’s Range Factor and the number of strikeouts New York Yankees pitchers recorded from 1996-2001:

 
YEAR    SO    RF

1996    1139    3.81      
1997    1165    3.90      
1998    1080    3.61      
1999    1111    4.45      
2000    1040    3.78      
2001    1266    4.05      
2002    1135    4.52      
2003    1119    3.81      
2004    1058    3.74      
2005    985      4.00      
2006    1019    4.25      
2007    1009    4.46      
2008    1141    4.12      
2009    1260    4.14      
2010    1154    4.02      
2011    1222    4.76      

During Jeter’s career, Yankees pitchers averaged 1,118 strikeouts a season. Jeter’s Range Factor was 4.10.

In 2002, Jeter’s 4.52 RF was the best of his career. The Yankees struck out 1,135 opposing batters. 

Jeter’s lowest RF occurred in 1998, when Yankees’ pitchers recorded 1.080 strikeouts.

A Pearson R reveals that the correlation between Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers’ strikeouts for his career is only 0.188. There is only a small correlation between the two.

Another variable is a pitching staff’s ratio of ground ball outs to fly ball outs. The following table shows Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers GO/FO ratio.

 YEAR     RF    GO/FO

1996    3.81    1.08      
1997    3.90    1.18      
1998    3.61    1.06      
1999    4.45    1.06      
2000    3.78    0.93      
2001    4.05    1.00      
2002    4.52    1.00      
2003    3.81    0.80      
2004    3.74    1.03      
2005    4.00    1.14      
2006    4.25    1.01      
2007    4.46    1.01      
2008    4.12    1.09      
2009    4.14    1.01      
2010    4.02    1.01      
2011    4.76    1.04     

In 2002, Jeter’s RF was 4.52. The Yankees’ GO/FO ratio was 1.00, which means pitchers recorded the same number of ground ball outs as fly ball outs. This reveals nothing.

The correlation between Jeter’s RF and the ratio of ground outs to fly outs is .062, which is even less than the correlation between Jeter’s RF and Yankees’ pitchers’ strikeouts.

Finally, here are the career Range Factors of some other Yankees shortstops:

PLAYER    RF      

Phil Rizzuto    5.13      
Tony Kubek    5.09      
Bucky Dent    4.94      
Tommy Tresh    4.85      
Alvaro Espinosa    5.04      
Fred Stanley    4.60      
Gene Michael     5.30     

I would never denigrate Derek Jeter, but as my mother used to say, “If everybody says you’re sick, go to the doctor.”

It’s difficult to admit, but maybe some of those that don’t think Jeter has been anything more than an adequate defensive player are right.

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Signs of aging were prevalent last season for Derek Jeter, as his first half left much to be desired.

Jeter hit .270/.330/.353 prior to the All Star break and was batting .257 with just two home runs on the day he collected his historic 3,000th hit.

He had a remarkable second half, however, hitting .327/.383/.428. He finished up the year with a respectable .297/.355/.388 line with six home runs and 61 RBI.

Jeter’s second half resurgence shows that he still has a little something left in the tank. He is just three seasons removed from a third-place finish in the American League MVP voting, when he hit .334/.406/.465 with 18 home runs, 66 RBI and 30 stolen bases.

Although he’s lost a step or two defensively, and despite what advanced statistics tell us, Jeter is still one of the better defending shortstops in the league. Sure, he may not get to as many balls as he used to, but he’s relatively sure-handed on the balls he is able to reach.

I expect another good season from Jeter this year.

He will be hungry for a championship this season, possibly more so than ever before. He knows he may have only one more season with teammate Mariano Rivera, and after seeing Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada retire in consecutive seasons, he knows that the clock’s ticking.

Jeter will retain his No. 2 spot in the lineup in 2012, at least for one more season, and will help to set up the bigger bats in the lineup. He is still capable of scoring 90 to 100 runs, as well as collecting close to 200 hits.

A perennial .300 hitter every season, I think Jeter has one more left. He should hover around a line of .300/.360/.390 with 10 home runs and 60 RBI.

Even if Jeter produces the next two seasons, expect a retirement announcement from the Yankee Captain following the 2013 campaign. He’s had a long, successful career, and deserves a happy retirement.

Should he retire after 2013, he’ll be retiring just as his teammates, Pettitte and Posada, did—on top.

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As the two marquee players available in this year’s MLB free-agent market, Albert Pujols and Prince Fielder figured to cash in mightily once they received a favorable contract offer and signed upon the dotted line.

Both career-long members of their respective clubs, the two sluggers have built impressive resumes for which they were paid handsomely by their new clubs.

Pujols, a modern legend during his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, has produced Hall of Fame caliber numbers through his first 11 seasons as a major leaguer. Even a cursory glance at his career statistics is enough to recognize the staggering nature of his greatness.

Fielder, though not quite on the same tier as Pujols, has proved to be incredibly durable and has become one of the game’s most-feared power threats. His combination of sheer power, plate discipline and durability is rather formidable. 

It was once unthinkable that Pujols would ever leave St. Louis, but when he took a stand in spring training and issued an ultimatum and end-date regarding discussion of a contract extension, many took it to mean that the Cardinals had missed their opportunity to secure the future of their star first baseman. Pujols though, on several occasions, professed his love of St. Louis and his desire to remain with the only organization he’s ever known. During spring, he spoke about the option of staying in St. Louis and said, “It’s a great piece to have on your resume. There’s not too many players that stay with one organization. Hopefully that happens.”

That wasn’t to be, as the lure of $240 million proved too much for the star to resist. Rather than play out the second half of his Hall of Fame career with the Cardinals, he risked scorn from his adoring fans in St. Louis by moving out west to Southern California. A new era in Angels’ baseball was born.

The situation with Prince was different however, as he was quoted during the pennant race as saying, “I’m signed for this year, but being real about it, it is probably the last year.” In that conversation with Brian Anderson, Milwaukee Brewers play-by-play announcer, he confirmed the likelihood that he will take his services to the free-agent market.

While the Fielder situation took far longer to play out than that of Pujols, it ended in a similar fashion. Though some had questioned whether he and his agent had waited too long, it turned out to be a perfect strategy, as the Detroit Tigers were forced into a semi-desperate state following the loss of Victor Martinez to a knee injury.

Surprising many that had expected Prince to sign elsewhere, the talented, young slugger signed a massive, nine-year $214 million deal to assume the Tigers’ first base position, moving incumbent Miguel Cabrera across the diamond to third. The deal suddenly has Detroit dreaming of a return to the World Series over five years after their bitter disappointment of 2006.

Despite the indisputable talent of each player, there is always concern when a club commits the type of money and contract length that the Angels and Tigers did in securing their new stars.

Since 1999, Major League Baseball has seen 32 contracts signed with total values in excess of $100 million. 

Let’s take a look at the richest contracts in MLB history to see how well those have worked out over time.

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