Derek Jeter

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.

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.

Saying he was “extremely insulted,” New York Yankees captain Derek Jeter turned down a 10-year, $200 million offer from himself on Friday.

Jeter, who awarded himself a Gold Glove earlier this month, told the Associated Press that “the offer just doesn’t take into account all I’m worth to myself.” 

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.

Courtesy of Yankees 'n More

Would Derek Jeter be underpaid at $10 million a year for the next three years? Could he be worth as much as $20 million a year over that time span. Does the Yankees' offer of $15 million per adequately cover both possible contingencies?

With each passing day, this seemingly solid and prosperous marriage between Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees seems to be on the verge of divorce.

No doubt the two are more perfect as a union, as I don’t know one baseball fan that can imagine either surviving without the other.