The New York Yankees' two biggest free agent targets this season are most definitely long-time shortstop Derek Jeter and star pitcher Cliff Lee.
It seems unlikely that they'll sign both, so in the hypothetical case that they only sign one, which will be more valuable to the team?
In my mind, there's not even a question about this—Cliff Lee.
Lee is one of the best pitchers in all of baseball; he may even be the absolute best.
The Yankees had a 4.06 team ERA last season, good enough to rank 15th in the MLB. For an elite team, that's simply not going to get it done. Just for comparison's sake, the Texas Rangers finished ninth and the San Francisco Giants were first last year.
Anyone besides me think that Lee could help the Yankees in that department?
Who would want to play a team that had a one-two punch of CC Sabathia and Cliff Lee, although not necessarily in that particular order.
Plus, we all know that Lee pitched dominantly in the playoffs. In the six playoff series of his career, Lee has compiled seven wins and a 2.13 ERA in his 10 games started.
Now, let's consider Derek Jeter.
Yes, he's a Yankees icon and will go down as one of the greatest of all time to wear the pinstriped jersey, but the contract he's asking for is completely ridiculous. Baseball is still a business and Jeter needs to understand that. The Yankees just can't pay him superstar money when he's no longer a superstar.
New York has made it quite clear to Jeter that they still want him on their team, yet Jeter, with his ridiculous demands, hasn't made the same clear to New York. Until he does that, I consider the contract situation his fault.
Last season, Jeter only hit .270 with 10 home runs and 67 RBI. His OPS+ (a sabermetric stat that compares a player's OPS to the league average OPS with anything over 100 being better than average) was only 90. That's the first time since 1991 that it was any lower than 102.
Yes, Jeter won another Gold Glove and appeared in the All-Star game, but that was only because of his reputation, not his production. Jeter, as he's done consistently throughout his career, actually hurt his team with his glove.
Doesn't that all make this situation pretty obvious?
Unless Jeter is willing to accept far less money and be paid what he's actually worth, the Yankees need to make Lee their first priority.
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