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Wise Investment Look past the numbers to see Jeter's worth
Updated: Friday February 09, 2001 6:29 PM
OK, so it cost George Steinbrenner $70.5 million just to avoid having other owners blame him for setting the financial bar at a new height. That figure is the difference between what the New York Yankees owner could have signed shortstop Derek Jeter for 12 months ago ($118.5 million over seven years) and what it cost him Friday ($189 million for 10 years). Steinbrenner's pride aside, he still nailed himself a good deal. The objective of running a baseball team is to fix your costs without compromising your talent. Steinbrenner succeeding in keeping a known talent -- Jeter -- at a fixed price for the prime of his career. And when Steinbrenner snags a new TV deal next year it will double his cable revenues to about $100 million annually, and his $70.5 million hiccup will be wiped clean. If there's anybody who won't be changed by $189 million, it's the hard-working, humble Jeter. You give him the money and don't worry about self destruction. He's also going to get better, especially when he is moved into the No. 3 hole (likely next year, when Paul O'Neill moves on) and his run production increases. The contract virtually makes Jeter a Yankee for life. And at the rate he is going, you have to assume by the time he is done, no Yankee will ever again wear a single digit number. (The last two remaining, 2 and 6, belong to Jeter and his manager, Joe Torre . Both are headed toward Monument Park.) Roto-heads will tell you Jeter doesn't crank out numbers after decimal points like Alex Rodriguez and Nomar Garciaparra . They likely would have run down Roberto Clemente for failing to slug like Henry Aaron and Willie Mays . The idea of paying $189 million to somebody who last year hit fewer home runs (15) and drove in fewer runs (73) than Mike Bordick (20 and 80) does seem odd on the face of it. But the Yankees aren't paying Jeter because he's good at Strat-o-Matic. They're paying him because he is an immense talent who wins championships, has great leadership qualities, produces in the clutch and -- here's where the business side of the game kicks in -- is an attraction who sells tickets and enhances the value of the franchise. If you don't think that mattered in the Texas Rangers' decision to give Alex Rodriguez $252 million -- if you thought it was all about his OPS, OBP, RBIs and BA -- you need to put down your No. 2. The last time Steinbrenner gave a player a 10-year contract was 1980, when he offered one to Jeter's boyhood idol, Dave Winfield . Winfield was 30 years old and had never sniffed the postseason. Jeter is 26 and has become as much a part of October as orange UNICEF boxes. Like Jeter, Winfield was a durable, tough-minded player who made Steinbrenner's commitment look good. Winfield helped the Yankees get to the World Series in 1981, a strike year. (His October was miserable.) For the next seven years he averaged a .291 batting average, 27 home runs and 106 RBIs. His missed his ninth season of the contract because of a back injury and was traded in the 10th. Steinbrenner received good value for the contract. Likewise, Jeter stands to be a good investment for the Yankees. He is a New York icon who can help the team get as much value as possible from its new TV deal. He could have gained more money as a free agent. (Just drop a "Mets" on George and see how the price would have gone up.) He will now allow the Yankees to trade from their backlog of highly regarded shortstop prospects, bringing in more talent. And he will help the Yankees win more world championships. The Yankees offense runs through Jeter, similar to the way it does through a key scorer on a basketball team. Consider this: the Yankees have scored 286 runs in the postseason since 1996. Jeter has scored or driven home 61 of them, or 21 percent of his team's offense. He is a lifetime .322 hitter in the regular season and a .324 hitter in the postseason. He has reached base 109 times in 61 postseason games. Impressive? Sure, but then Jeter's value only begins with his numbers. Sports Illustrated senior writer Tom Verducci covers baseball for the magazine and is a regular contributor to CNNSI.com.
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