A new study reports what BYH has known for years: Jeter's a butcher in the field

Someone was reading baseball reference .com today.

 

If he'd been on the Rays, those postseason rings and hits would never have happened. And that's where he built the bulk of his legacy thanks in part to the New York tabloids. "Mr November", anyone?

He's a very good leadoff/No.2 hitter, and he will get into the hall of fame, but that he has 1. Played for the Yankees and been continually lionized and 2. Gotten the opportunity to play in 12 straight postseasons has done nothing but help his cause.

 

To be fair, it's not as if Jeter has been a passenger on those Yankee teams; he hasn't been the 25th of 25 players. Since 1996, he's been an offensive lynchpin.

 

Had Jeter not been on those Yankee teams, it's possible no one on those teams would have four rings.

Jeter's a very-good-to-great hitter with a history of coming up big in the clutch (please don't start the debate on whether that skill actually exists). He'll retire with slam-dunk Hall of Fame numbers.

And he's also over-rated as a fielder ...

 

The extremes here really are a bit much.

Jeter is a Hall of Famer. No question. Yes, being surrounded by great talent has helped, but he has also been a big part of the team's success.

But he is average at best defensively. Rodriguez was the superior defender and even as he has bulked up and spent so much time at third base, I still think he would be better at the position than Jeter. It is amazing to me that the Yankees let the inferior player stay at his position primarily out of deference to Jeter's ego. Yankee fanboys want to talk about how they won championships with Jeter but not with Rodriguez? Perhaps it would have helped if they put the better defender at shortstop.

I think it's the Captain Intangibles crap that causes much of the hatred directed at Jeter. He just doesn't deserve the credit he gets as a leader. A leader would have stepped up and helped his teammate out rather than allowing his personal issues with Rodriguez make things worse. Maybe he really is great in the clubhouse. But most of the people pumping him up for his intangibles don't know any better than I do if that is true. Perhaps some people who have covered the team can offer some more insight there.

Jeter will get into the Hall of Fame for the offensive skills he brought as a shortstop and his contributions to great teams and deservedly so, but as a defender and a leader I don't see how he has ever been anything special.

 

How many times have you been in the Yankee clubhouse?

 

Boom, are you having trouble with the quote function there? I think you stuck a question in the middle of my post.

If you meant to ask about the time I have spent in the Yankee clubhouse, I believe I admitted that I haven't spent nearly enough to tell you definitively about Jeter as a leader. In fact, I asked if those who have actually covered the team on a regular basis could provide some insight.

My point was most of the people going on about what a great leader he is have no clue. The only real evidence I see regarding his leadership skills is negative -- his refusal to say anything meaningful about Alex Rodriguez.

spnited asked earlier in this thread for real evidence regarding Jeter's fielding. I'm asking for the same about his leadership skills. Does anybody who actually knows what they are talking about on the subject have something to say about that?

 

So what other shortstops in MLB baseball today would you take over Jeter for next season?

All the people bashing Jeter, what other players would you take for 2008?

I'm curious to see what other names come up.

 

Saying his defense and leadership are over-rated is not the same as bashing.

The more appropriate question for this thread might be which shortstops are better defenders than Jeter. Obviously, that's pretty subjective, but for me that would be a fairly long list.