Derek Jeter

For every team, spring training marks the start of a new beginning, as a fresh slate is presented to them. For the teams that struggled in 2013, they look to put last season behind them.  For a team such as the Boston Red Sox, who won the World Series, they look to build on their foundation of success.  

At this time last season, New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter attempted to stay positive regarding his health when he began his spring training workouts. Unfortunately, his optimistic nature was not enough to carry him into the regular season remotely healthy.

Earlier this week, Derek Jeter announced he will be retiring from baseball at the end of the 2014 season, his 20th, all of which have been spent with the New York Yankees.

Despite missing out on the postseason last October, the New York Yankees enter spring training as the biggest story in Major League Baseball.

Over the last two decades, the New York Yankees have put the fate of their franchise in Derek Jeter's hands. Now, as the 39-year-old enters the twilight of his career, the team is asking its captain to do something only three shortstops in the history of the sport have done: profile as an everyday shortstop as a 40-year-old.

Derek Jeter is currently in Tampa, rehabbing from a calf injury and trying to make it back to the Bronx for the stretch run of the 2013 season. In the aftermath of a fractured ankle set back and subsequent leg injuries, the 39-year-old shortstop has played in just five games this season. 

With less than 10 days until the trade deadline, the New York Yankees continue to hover above .500, but are seven games back in the AL East and 3.5 games behind the Orioles for the second wild card spot.

Derek Jeter has been able to do nothing but watch this year, and what he's seen hasn't been pretty.

Between 2004 and 2012, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez were fixtures on the left side of the New York Yankees infield.

But significant injuries now threaten their baseball careers, or at least their futures as everyday players.