The news improved for Derek Jeter on Monday. Of the 250,000-plus secret government documents released by WikiLeaks, none mentioned a romance between Hal Steinbrenner and a goat.
If such evidence actually exists -- and we have no independent confirmation that it does -- perhaps Jeter's camp still has exclusive access. It can still embarrass the Yankees into giving Jeter a crazy contract.
If you take blackmail out of the negotiations, however, the Face of the Yankees has little to smile about. Jeter's getting humiliated, and he has nobody to blame but himself or his agent or whichever girlfriend keeps whispering in his ear that he's worth $23 million a year.
Most Yankees fans don't even believe that, which is saying something considering they'd normally cheer if New York signed a free-agent rutabaga for $16 million a year. Come to think of it, most household vegetables would pitch better than A.J. Burnett.
But back to El Capitan. Jeter has supposedly always had a clear sense of his value. So you have to wonder what he sees that the rest of the world is missing.
"Derek's impact on the sport's most valuable franchise cannot be overstated," said agent Casey Close.
Sure it can -- $150 million over six years.
That was supposedly Jeter's starting point, though Close denies the $25-mil-a-year demand. The $23-million-per seems more likely. That's still about $15 million more a season than Jeter would get on the open market.
He should have taken the Yankees' three-year, $45 million offer and gotten back to being the world's most eligible bachelor. He's 36 and coming off the worst offensive year of his career.
Hanley Ramirez is the game's best shortstop and is 10 years younger. Over the next four years, he'll make about $14.4 million per season.
Jeter won a Gold Glove last season, but his range dwindles every season. In major league history, only 14 shortstops over 36 have played in 80 percent of their team's games in a given season.
As for over-36 shortstops who actually played at an All-Star level, you can count two -- Honus Wagner and Luke Appling. Jeter may resurrect his bat for a year or two but, if he has his negotiating way, the Yankees will be paying a 43-year-old shortstop $23 million a year.
Does anyone think that's a wise investment?
Put those hands down, Red Sox fans.
The wild card in this negotiation is Jeter's intrinsic value. He unquestionably deserves some Irving G. Thalberg Lifetime Achievement points for being a key part of five championships.
But this whole Face of the Franchise thing is a bit too reverential. After saying what a great player he has been, Jeter-philes invariably note that he's never taken steroids, dated Madonna or done anything to embarrass the Pinstripes.
Good for him, but isn't behaving supposed to be part of the job? What does it say when simply remaining clean is a major negotiation point?
His Turn-2 charitable foundation has raised more than $8 million over the past 12 years. As noble as that is, Jeter's never made the top-30 list of celebrity/athlete philanthropists complied by The Giving Back Fund.
I'm not saying Jeter doesn't deserve our admiration. But he's not Roberto Clemente airlifting supplies to Nicaraguan earthquake victims. He's a decent guy who's avoided the mud of baseball's Scandal Era.
He's done it in the most scandal-hungry city in America. That's made this squabble bigger news than any WikiLeak revelation. Jeter didn't have to turn it into a Hot Stove soap opera. He'll eventually re-sign with New York, mainly because nobody else will come close to the Yankees' offer.
From a strict baseball standpoint, Jeter's worth about $8-10 million a year. I think he deserves an extra $3 million a year Jeter Bonus, but I'm cheap.
The Yankees have offered him $15 million a year. Never mind that at 39 years old he'd still be among the highest-paid shortstops. Jeter made $22.6 million last year and considers it insulting to take a pay cut.
Loyalty is a two-way street, however. As good as Jeter has been to the Yankees, they have been good to him to the tune of $205 million over the past 15 years. And any day now, the Yankees are going to sign Cliff Lee, Carl Crawford and a rutabaga to $250 million worth of contracts.
They will again be accused of trying to bankroll their way to a title. Yet when they show a little fiscal sanity with Jeter, they get ripped?
If Jeter could get $23 million on the open market, the Yankees would be the first to sign him for $30 million. But they'd rather spend/waste money on a player in his prime.
For all the talk of pinstriped legacies, New York had no problem letting Bernie Williams go. More to the point, this is the franchise that let Babe Ruth go.
It wasn't quite as profound as when the Red Sox sold him in 1919. But Ruth was sold to the Boston Braves for his final season in 1935.
As sad as it would be, the Yankees survived without the original Face of the Franchise. They could somehow manage without this one.
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