Tom Tango has a poll up at his excellent website in which he asks the following question:
I AM a Yankees fan. My team has 150 million dollars to spend. I’d rather it go to:
1) Derek Jeter
2) Cliff Lee
Tom is trying to determine how attached Yankees fans are to Jeter, and whether they would sacrifice him for Cliff Lee. 88.6% of voters chose Lee. Tom has a very “saber” oriented audience, and I wanted to see whether a more mainstream readership would reach the same conclusion. I think the 150 million number is obviously too high, so I will just simplify and ask this:
I AM a Yankees fan. My team can afford to hand out just one expensive contract. I’d rather it go to:
1) Derek Jeter
2) Cliff Lee
Please take the poll to the right, and then chime in on this topic in the comments.
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30 Responses to Take The Poll: Lee or Jeter?
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I voted, and all I can say is, I’m disgusted at the results.
Me too, the fact that the poll isn’t at least 90% Lee is absolutley rediculous!
Really ? You are disgusted that people would want to start with a guy that is 4 years younger, is probably one of the top 3 pitchers in the league over a guy coming off the worst year of his career ?
Seriously ?
Do I want Derek Jeter on the team ? Absolutely. At $20 Million per year for 3 or 4 years ? Not a chance. Reality is that he will get that money, whether he deserves it or not AND whether or not he will earn it going forward which there is virtually ZERO chance he will.
Lee could fail like Johnson, Brown, Burnett, et al. Why do I wonder if this guys cares to be a Yankee? All qualitative, sorry, but I don’t see that he wants to play here or sees himself as more than a 1 year hired gun.
gotta go with Jeter here. With Lee, sure rotation is better, but whats a team without its team captain?
Derek isn’t worth 1/3 of that amount-no way would I spend $150 mil on him. I doubt if I’d spend that much on Lee. either, but he’s worth a lot more than Derek. If he really expects a contract well over the amount any other team would offer, the Yankees should let him test the market before signing him.
As a Yankee fan I’d rather not win a WS over the next 3 or 4 years and have Jeter retire a Yankee, than sign Lee, win a couple titles and have to watch Jeter retire in another uniform.
Wait, what? So you are a Jeter fan over a Yankee fan?
Sounds like he isn’t a Yankee fan but strictly a Jeter fan and if Derek goes so does his loyalty.
That is most illogical.
Logic and fans rarely merge together in situations like this just like last year when everyone wanted to give Damon 12+ million dollars and everyone wanted to give Wang a guaranteed contract because “he will pitch again by July” and he never touched a ball.
Fans often forget this is a buisness and winning and money come 1st and 2nd and the player at best is 3rd.
Lee and it’s not even close. I dabble in sabermetrics but am far from a “saber guy”. My sole interest is putting the Yankees in the best position to win and spending that $ on Lee does that. Jeter is a $10M a year player now, so paying him 250% more then he is worth for past performance doesn’t make sense, considering he was well compensated during his last long term contract. What the Yankees need to do is keep the payroll around $200M and a good way to do that if we sign Lee is resigning Jeter at say $12M which will save Yankees $9-10M from what he made last year. Couple that with the ~$17M Yanks clear with Johnson and Vazquez and you get Lee in and keep the payroll steady.
What can I say, I am a big Jeter fan.
Personally, I’ll take the titles. Even if Jeter’s playing for the Red Sox.
its not about being a jeter fan over being a yankee fan. We are talking about a yankee legend. one that has been synonymous with winning championships and making unreal plays. Some times its about being loyal to guys that have meant so much to not only the yankee organization but the millions of yankee fans who love both the team and players. One of the great things about sports in general is that its not always about talent, not always about numbers. the will to succeed sometimes overcomes all that. im sure ill get blasted on this site for saying that but to me thats what jeter represents. theres definitely a heart beat to this game, not just numbers in a binder. Would lee bring a huge upgrade to the rotation and team? Absolutely. Would i sacrafice a declining jeter for him? not a chance. go ahead say im a jeter fan and not a yankee fan. Say im dumb for thinking that. After all jeter has done for not only the yankees but baseball, the fact that you guys would kick him to the curb is a disgrace. People always say how yankee fans are spoiled, the people who want lee arent proving them wrong
I really have a hard time equating ‘kicking him to the curb’ with not wanting to give him 20 times what he’s worth. And I don’t care to be called spoiled for not wanting to overpay for Derek Jeter. If he’s the guy you’re implying he is, why would he leave the team for not getting many times his market value?
I think the person that’s benefited the most from DJ being on the Yankees is him, not the Yankees. The money he’s made in endorsements here is many times more than what he would have made if he played for the Padres or the Orioles.
If the Yankees start not making the play-offs because they’re spending all of their money on Jeter and Jorge and others, the fans won’t be filling the stadium anymore.
They already were loyal to Derek with is last deal.
According to baseball-reference, Jeter has made $205,430,000 from the Yankees. Are you saying his contributions to the Yankees over the years have not only entitled him to over $205 million, but to another huge contract which he almost certainly will not earn by his play and will (for the sake of this post and for argument) prevent the Yankees from signing someone who actually might earn his paycheck? That’s quite a price.
Jeter’s career is all about talent and numbers. That’s why he’s a good baseball player. He smiles a lot too, which is nice. But when he’s no longer a good baseball player, he will no longer be entitled to a roster spot.
cliff lee…and it isnt even close. Pitching wins you championships…Jeter has said it more than once himself.
I don’t care Yankees win or lose if Jeter not in the lineup. That dosen’t matter to me. I have no passion watch a game without Jeter on the field. Go ahead say Im a jeter fan, that…. dosen’t matter to me either.
OH, I’m sure when MO take that $15M contract is definitely bc HE REALY WANT TO WIN.
FYI, a solid argument can be made that Mo is STILL the best player at his position in all of baseball. Jeter ? Not so much.
Funny, you clearly miss my point. Let’s use Chipper Jones’ words.
“Tony Gwynn made sacrifices. Cal Ripken made sacrifices. I’m not sure *MARIANO RIVERA made sacrifices given the ungodly deep pockets the Yankees have.” – Chipper Jones
To me, If yankees think A-rod worth that $30M contract, than HE WORTH that money. That’s nor my money or YOUR money. Sorry, they are NOT your employees, neither you are their boss.
im not saying jeter is worth 20 mil……no athlete in the world is “worth” that a year. but if the question is do you sign lee or sign jeter at any price it would be jeter. has he benefited from being here? sure. i wont argue that. but its not his fault that he got drafted by the yankees to be in the biggest market and to make crazy amount of money he wouldnt get any where else in baseball or endorsements. he shouldnt have to say, like any athlete when negotiating a contract, you know what im really not worth what you are planning on giving me. would you be doing that to your boss? doubt it
It’s a specious debate. The Yankees are clearly not in a position where they have to make a choice between the two, so to have heated arguments about how they should behave if they WERE in that situation is pointless. Sure, let’s discuss the point in a light-hearted way – but it seems to me to be pretty ridiculous to throw accusations around (such as “more Jeter fan than Yankee fan” or “kicking Jeter to the curb”) when the situation is never going to arise.
Why never? Because if it emerged that the Yankees’ budget meant they could not afford Jeter, one or both of two things would happen. Either (a) they would bust their budget, as we know they can if they so choose; or (b) Jeter would play for peanuts. I really cannot see either party stubbornly holding out for a point of principle that could result in Jeter ending his career elsewhere, and the signing (or not) of Cliff Lee is not a factor in the discussion.
Well yeah, you have to accept the premise to have the argument, and the premise is admittedly unlikely. It’s a hypothetical meant to take the pulse and temperature of a fanbase. That it doesn’t represent reality doesn’t quite make it specious. We all know the Yanks can get both Jeter and Lee if they want to.
Whether or not it’s specious is a matter of semantics; I happen to think it is, but I’m more than happy for others to disagree. :-) My main point, though, is that while it is fun to debate hypothetical points – after all, we sadly have until February to fill with such discussion – we shouldn’t be having a slanging match about them.
I mean, it may be entertaining to discuss whether Obi-Wan Kenobi would be handier in a bar-room altercation than Luke Skywalker (and I confess that I know very little about Star Wars – they could be one and the same person for all I know) but the moment that we start attacking people for holding one or other viewpoint on the subject, it’s us that have lost touch with reality, not the discussion.
Why do you care if other people have a heated discussion un-related to you? I understand the point you are making I just don’t see where its your buisness that is takes place. With all due respect.
No one is actualy getting hurt and no one is taking it personally (unless their too young to be on the internet) its just off season discussion time. We have no horse in the race and the barns won’t be full again until next spring.
I don’t care if people have a heated discussion – it’s up to them how they use their time and I have had plenty myself, about all manner of silly things. But as far as I can tell, I have just as much right to observe that this PARTICULAR heated discussion is not worth getting hot under the collar about, as you do to observe that I have no business making the comment.
In other words (with all due respect) if I have no right to make the comment, then nor do you!
Funny old world, isn’t it?