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Gold Glove results mixed, as usual
I have to get this out of the way ... Yes, Derek Jeter has just won another Gold Glove.
It's his fifth, which means he's now won at least four more Gold Gloves than he's deserved. By any stretch of the fever-crazed imagination.
The voting doesn't differentiate the leagues. Each voter is required to rank 10 shortstops. This year, 20 shortstops received at least one point in the voting.
Jeter wasn't one of them. Not a single voter thought that Jeter was even the 10th-best shortstop in the major leagues.
Of course, it's not just us. Nobody who really follows baseball believes that Jeter is an outstanding defensive player. The Yankees, who see him every day, don't believe that. The writers who cover the Yankees every day don't believe that. Frankly, I'm not sure the managers and the coaches who actually voted for Jeter believe that.
I think they keep giving him the award as a gesture of respect. In a different sort of society, they might simply bow in his presence, then kiss one of his World Series rings. Or cross themselves whenever Game 3 of the Yankees' 2001 Division Series is mentioned. Instead they somewhat mindlessly give him their Gold Glove support every year, even as everyone who's actually paying attention knows the Yankees would prevent more runs if almost anyone else were playing shortstop.
At best, it's an idiosyncratic choice. At worst, it's just another reminder that the men tasked with this award -- which many people consider serious business -- don't take it seriously. But then, we already knew, didn't we?
Of course, Jeter isn't the only beneficiary of the Yankee halo; Mark Teixeira wins his fourth Gold Glove (and second as a Yankee), Robinson Cano his first. -ESPN
Source: Yanks will overpay Derek Jeter
Derek Jeter is going to be paid Ryan Howard money for putting up Marco Scutaro numbers.
"The Yankees are going to overpay him," said a source with intimate knowledge of the discussions between the team and Casey Close, Jeter's agent. "The question is, how much are they going to overpay him?"
Several sources told ESPNNewYork.com on Monday that while the Yankees have yet to make a formal offer to Jeter -- or to Mariano Rivera, their other high-profile free agent, not to mention Cliff Lee, their primary target in the free-agent market -- offers are currently being prepared for all three.
And the one that is likely to get done first is Jeter's, possibly before Thanksgiving, with Rivera's soon afterward.
Lee's deal -- that is, assuming the Yankees outbid what is expected to be a field of perhaps as many as a half-dozen suitors -- is not expected to get done until mid-December, after the conclusion of baseball's winter meetings, which run from Dec. 6-9 in Orlando.
As for Andy Pettitte, the third member of the Yankees' so-called Core Four to be without a contract this winter, the club plans to wait to hear from the 39-year-old pitcher whether he plans to play again in 2011, a decision club officials believe will not be made until after Thanksgiving.
But the first order of business will be Jeter, whose 10-year, $189-million contract expired last Monday and who officially became a free agent for the first time in his 16-year career at 12:01 a.m. ET on Sunday morning when the Yankees five-day exclusivity window expired.
From conversations with two sources, both of whom requested anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the talks, Jeter's offer is expected to be for three years at somewhere between $15 million and $20 million per season.
That would be a slight paycut from his $21 million paycheck in 2010, but still well above the going rate for a shortstop who hit .270 last year and will hit his 37th birthday two weeks before the next All-Star Game.
"Some people will think the number is unfair," said one source, "And some are going to think it is way too much."
And both sources made it clear that in their opinion, Jeter will be paid more than he is currently worth on performance alone. -ESPN