AL East

Half a dozen teams are interested in free-agent ace left-hander Cliff Lee. Three are known—the New York Yankees, Texas Rangers and Washington Nationals—while the other three are left to speculation.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

MLB Rumors: 10 Reasons Derek Jeter Will Get His Way With Yankees

Derek Jeter is a free agent for the first time in his storied MLB career, and unless something changes, it seems like he will remain a free agent for a while.

Jeter is said to be seeking 4-6 years and $22-25 million a year. Steep numbers for someone who has showed a lot of decline over the past year.

However, this isn't a typical free agent. For Jeter to play anywhere but New York would be an indictment of the era that we live in, and both Jeter and the Yankees want to prevent that.

The New York Yankees have once again failed to reach their goal of winning a World Series Championship.  While the team was solid, it won nothing last year but a single playoff series.  Granted, it sounds pretentious to 29 other teams to call a trip to the ALCS a failure, but in Yankee town, that’s all it is.

Black Friday has come and gone and the Yankees and Derek Jeter have yet to strike a deal. Everyone knows what has gone on thus far. The Yankees have offered a deal to make Jeter the highest paid middle infielder in the big leagues when he is not performing like one. Jeter wants the Yankees to give him an Alex Rodriguez type contract, with rumors floating around of six years at $22-25 million per.

The Orioles have progressed left-handed pitcher Zach Britton slowly since he was drafted in the third round of the 2006 draft out of high school.  In fact, they hadn’t advanced him more then one level in a year, giving him a slow climb through the system.  That came to an end in 2010, however, having pitched in Double- and Triple-A and posting the following numbers:

Derek Jeter has been the subject of much debate in the off-season so far, ranging from his value as a fielder in the Gold Glove voting to his overall value as a player and icon to the New York Yankees.

Here's a debate that won't rage long with respect to Jeter: there can be no doubt that Derek Jeter is a no-brainer, first ballot Hall of Famer.

Now that the 2010 season, playoffs, post-season, and award season are all in the books, we have everything we need to take an extended team-by-team look at today's players and their Hall of Fame potential.

After reports of New York Yankees Shortstop Derek Jeter turning down a 3 year, $45 million deal, general manager Brian Cashman told Jeter and his agent Casey Close to test the free agent market.

Criticism fired from all directions at Cashman.

Life long fans couldn't believe that Cashman could let the face of their franchise, a captain, talk to other clubs about possible deals.

Neither could I.

However, this all makes sense in the end.

Since 1901, only nine shortstops age 37 or above hit over .270 in a season. Derek Jeter will qualify as the 10th player in that category next season, and the New York Yankees are well aware of that.

Sure, if you are going to bet on someone entering that group (that happens to include six Hall of Famers), it might as well be Jeter. For the Yankees, who have more money floating around than we can imagine, it is an easy bet to make.

In a contract negotiation that was already ugly, things between the Yankees and Derek Jeter have just gotten worse.

Bill Madden of the New York Daily News has stated that Jeter and the Yankees are at least $80 million apart in their contract negotiation.

It is possible that the two sides may be more that $80 million apart.