Jeter on the Decline: The Sad Truth

[browntown653]

This is a fantastic article I found on baseball-reference about the decline of Derek Jeter. It is quite difficult for me to talk/think about this because Jeter has to be my favorite player of all time. He's the captain of this team for a reason and a classy guy who personifies the Yankees. But facts are facts. Jeter's offense is in decline. His defense is not what it used to be. His power numbers are shot. By no means am I saying Jeter is done or a bad player...but chances are he could be one of the weak links next year, and that scares me.

Dugout Central » Yankees’ Best Future Lies Without an Everyday Jeter

Read the article if you have time, it's a very well done piece.

[NYgiantsfan5689]

I'm saying Jeter's done. It really is a sad and depressing thing to grasp, but he is just not even close to what he used to be. I honestly am REALLY scared about him this season

[cjkalt]

31st in defense SS last year, why rollins who was #1 was DHing in the WBC is beyond me... its a sad day as a Sox fan to say this but...Jeter doesn't scare me anymore

[missionhockey21]

A very good, thoughtful, and well supported article. It wasn't mean spirited in any way and simply stated the facts. I have a fairly good depth of knowledge about Jeter's declining skill set as it always interests me since I saw that happen to Jr. with the Reds and their reluctance for several seasons to consider moving him when it was clear he was not a centerfielder any longer. Jeter's intangibles could make up for some of his declining numbers with the bat, but he really can't be in the field at such an important position for a contending team any longer. The Reds had the dreadful Juan Castro, obviously nothing close to the talent of a Jeter, but their beat writers and announcers went on and on about his fielding due to his low error total and confidence in the field, but like Jeter his range was lacking to say the least.

It would be nice to see Jeter reach 3,000 hits with the Yankees and even better if he retired in pinstripes, but I don't know. Griffey really didn't want to accept his decline in centerfield, but he was also once among the best to ever field that position so I don't know if Jeter would have the same resistance. It is weird though, and kind of sad, to see Jeter's decline. Jeter for me was the first prospect I really was old enough to appreciate his entrance into the bigs and to see him so clearly on the tailend is just weird.