I had an interesting dialogue on Twitter with Moshe Mandel of The Yankee U:

Essentially Moshe and I were discussing how, in his words, “Jeter’s contract negotiations are going to be a total disaster. Epic.” The Captain is going to want between $18-$20 million per year, perhaps for as much as four years, and he clearly is not worth that investment. Even if you are in the camp of paying for past performance Jeter has raked in $205 million dollars to date. Does that not compensate for five titles and 2,800 hits?

Moshe went on to say that perhaps the Yankees could “hardline” Jeter during negotiations. Force him to take something in between absurd and market value. He is probably more of a $12 million dollar per year ballplayer so perhaps $15 million is a good target to shoot towards. Of course, the four years are atrocious since I basically believe the Yankees should move on from Jeter as soon as possible after his 3,000th hit. You can hide Steve Carlton when he loses his fastball, but not Derek Jeter at shortstop.

The major point made by Mandel is hardlining the Captain. Who in their right mind would give Jeter what he wants? Would Derek be so vindictive that he takes a shorter deal somewhere else to punish the Yankees? Does he want to be like Wade Boggs who collected his 3,000th hit wearing a Devil Rays uniform? Better yet, what team will pay top dollar just to hurt the Yankees in this economy? I can’t think of any right now.

The difference between Jeter and someone like Marco Scutaro is harder to decipher these days. The defense is average, the slumps longer, and overall he is a below league average hitter. Money is no object, but how much is 3,000 hits worth? I say it’s worth $20 million, but on a year to year contract. If Michael Jordan could do year to year deals with Chicago at the end of his career so can the Captain. Something tells me Jeter and his agent won’t agree. That is when the real fun will start.

Who said the Yankees won’t have any good storylines the rest of the season?

Mike Silva is a freelance writer and radio host since March of 2007. This website is his own personal "digest" of New York Baseball He's also hosts NYBD Radio on Blog Talk Radio and 1240 AM WGBB. Check out his sports media commentary at www.sportsmediawatchdog.com. Check out his official website, www.mikesilvamedia.com

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Tags: Derek Jeter, New York Yankees