Derek Jeter

A number of MLB teams are not at full strength at this point in the year because some of their players are still recovering from offseason surgeries and spring injuries.

These players can provide a big boost once they return, and they can help change a team from one that is struggling to one that is fighting for a playoff spot.

Sometimes, the impact is more than what the player does on the field. In certain cases, their leadership ability is invaluable.

What are the odds of longtime New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter retiring after 2013?

Right now, I'd have to say about equivalent to those of an asteroid made of cotton candy colliding with the earth, which I presume are pretty close to zero.

By this time next week, MLB will have thrown their first pitch. Before that, they'll pitch several players on to the DL. Injuries often become the deciding factor in many of those last-minute roster decisions. A player may be healthy now, but might have missed opportunities to impress the coaching staff earlier in the spring due to even minor injuries.

The optimism Derek Jeter’s spring debut brought to the New York Yankees is receding after the legendary shortstop’s ankle injury forced him back onto the bench, but there is still no reason for the ball club to worry at this point.

Derek Jeter was scratched from the New York Yankees' spring training game against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday due to a "cranky" left ankle, according to manager Joe Girardi (via Wall

The New York Yankees may be struggling in spring training, but the team got a lift when future Hall of Famers Mariano Rivera and Derek Jeter returned from the injuries they suffered last season for their debuts.

This was the photo that every New York Yankees fan had been dreaming of for some time now—Derek Jeter back and in business as the designated hitter.

Per Mark Feinsand of the New York Daily News:

With the New York Yankees getting older, manager Joe Girardi will have to be more conservative with the amount of playing time he gives a lot of the core players on the roster. 

Derek Jeter will be high on the list of players who need to be monitored. 

Most fans are well aware at this point of the New York Yankees' plan to cut payroll down to $189 million before the start of the 2014 season.

Entering the 2013, the Yankees have at least 10 significant players on their roster that can or will be free agents after the season.

Their budget plans will make it next to impossible to bring back everyone.

The New York Yankees off-season has been a quiet one due to ownership implementing a new frugal stance.

Instead of story-lines about signing the biggest free agents, Yankee fans were relegated to watching the realities of missing the 2013 postseason grow by the day.

So as a result, fans, the media, and bloggers alike have been provided with plenty of things to grumble about.