Yankees baseball blog

Jeter beats Rays 5-4

Derek Jeter homered for his 3,000th hit and raced right past the milestone in a scintillating performance Saturday, going 5 for 5 with a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning that gave the Yankees a 5-4 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.

Jeter doubled and had three singles while starting a pair of Yankees rallies and finishing off their last one. He bounced a single through the left side his first time up to give him No. 2,999, then sent a no-doubt drive into the left-field seats off Rays ace David Price in the third inning.

That made Jeter the 28th major leaguer to reach 3,000 hits, one of baseball’s biggest milestones, and the first to do it with the Yankees.

It also set off quite a celebration in the Bronx, with teammates mobbing Jeter at home plate in a pack of pinstripes before he took a curtain call and saluted the sellout crowd of 48,103.

The home run was Jeter’s third of the season and first at home since an inside-the-park shot July 22, 2010, against Kansas City. But the 37-year-old captain was just warming up in a turn-back-the-clock performance — and the Yankees needed all of it. (continue)

Jeter goes yard for hit 3000

With one emphatic shot that landed in the leftfield bleachers, Derek Jeter landed all by himself in Yankees history. With his home run in the third inning Saturday afternoon, he became the first Yankee ever to reach 3,000 hits, a milestone considered the gold standard for major league batters.

The home run went deep into the seats, less than 100 feet from the spot where he someday likely will be honored with a monument alongside other Yankees greats.

Fans at Yankee Stadium cheered five minutes for Jeter, who long has played at the intersection of the franchise's past and present. After he drove a 3-and-2 pitch deep into the stands, he rounded the bases and was greeted at the plate by the entire Yankees team--including pitchers who ran in from the bullpen. Each one hugged the captain, whose career records and popularity put him in the elite company of Yankees icons.

Jeter is the 28th ballplayer ever to record 3,000 hits, a plateau that always has been synonymous with election to the Baseball Hall of Fame. (continue)

Jeter needs 2 more to 3,000 hits

Yankee Stadium knows how and when to shower one of the classiest Yankees to walk its way with class. When it is the right time for condemnation to give way to celebration and appreciation. Derek Jeter stepped to the plate five times in the Rays’ 5-1 victory last night, and five times he saw Yankee fans stand, five times he heard their heartfelt ovation. The message: 2 Derek, With Love. Jeter’s response: 2 more to 3,000. The 2,998th hit of his relentlessly consistent career came immediately when he lined a first-pitch meatball from Jeff Niemann into left-center field and raced into second standing up. His father, Dr. Charles Jeter, was spotted applauding from a suite. And for the first time, Jeter began thinking about 3,000. (continue)

Jeter may need more time to heal

Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter is eligible to come off the disabled list June 29, but it doesn’t sound like he will be in the lineup against the Brewers at Yankee Stadium that night.

“He is still feeling the calf (injury),’’ GM Brian Cashman said Thursday of Jeter, who suffered a Grade 1 strain of his right calf June 13, when he left a game against the Indians.

“He is doing nothing but long toss. He is getting better but not in position to do anything yet.’’

Jeter, 37 on Sunday, played catch for the third straight day at the Yankees’ minor-league complex in Tampa, but it’s what he hasn’t done that indicates he won’t be back in six days. (continue)

Jeter to DL

The Yankees have put shortstop Derek Jeter on the disabled list, delaying his chase for 3,000 career hits at least 15 days.

Jeter was diagnosed with a Grade 1 calf strain after leaving Monday night’s loss to the Indians and can not play again until Wednesday, June 29.

Prior to Tuesday's game against the Rangers at Yankee Stadium, Jeter said he would prefer not to go on the DL.

"I'm still pleading my case," Jeter said. "If it was up to me, I'd rather not (go on the DL) ...

"If they tell me it's 14 days, I'd rather not go on and be able to play the 14th day. But I don't know much about it," he added. "My opinion is if I'm able to play in four, five days, six, seven days, it's better than waiting 15." (Post)

Jeter alive and well in Yanks win over Texas

Derek Jeter homered twice after going 62 games without a long ball, Curtis Granderson went deep again and the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 12-5 Sunday despite an erratic outing by CC Sabathia.

Jeter had gone 259 at-bats without a homer since last Aug. 24 before leading off the fifth with a liner that barely cleared the eight-foot wall into the Rangers' bullpen in right-center.

Jeter didn't wait long for his next homer, leading off the seventh against Arthur Rhodes (1-2) with a deeper shot into the bullpen to break a 4-all tie.

Under scrutiny all season, the 36-year-old Jeter had four hits, three RBIs and his first stolen base of the year while raising his batting average from .256 to .276.

Granderson, who homered twice in Friday's 4-1 victory, followed Jeter's second homer with his AL-leading 11th of the season. (Post)

Jeter not happy with public negoitiations (but I think he will survive)

Derek Jeter  was "angry" about the public nature of his contract negotiations, but the shortstop insists that as far as he's concerned with, it's all in the past.

Speaking under the big tent at Steinbrenner Field, Jeter discussed his negotiations publicly for the first time Tuesday, making it clear that Brian Cashman's challenge for him to "test the market" bothered him immensely.

"I was angry about it because I was the one that said I didn't want to do it, that I wasn't going to do it," Jeter said. "To hear the organization tell me to go shop it when I just told you I wasn't going to; if I'm going to be honest with, I was angry about it."

Jeter was also bothered by the back-and-forth between the Yankees and his agent, Casey Close, as the shortstop had expected the talks to stay out of the papers. (News)

Jeter for 3 @ 17 plus an option for a 4th year

Fifty-one million dollars over three years and a very creative option produced by the club for the fourth year was enough to bring Derek Jeter back to the Yankees.

According to a person with knowledge of the situation, Jeter and the Yankees finalized the deal yesterday and ended a month of negotiations that at times were testy.

Jeter will earn $17 million in 2011, 2012 and 2013. There is a player option for the fourth year that if Jeter picks up is worth $8 million. The guaranteed part of the deal includes a $3 million buyout if the option is nixed. Should Jeter accept, the contract is worth $56 million across four seasons.

There is deferred money in the deal and the all-important AAV, which means a lot in luxury-tax circles, is $16 million. That makes Jeter the highest-paid middle infielder in baseball, but represents a cut from the $18.9 million he averaged for the past 10 seasons and the $21 million he earned last year when he batted a career-low .270 but was an All Star and won a Gold Glove. (NY Post)

Yanks and Jeter getting closer

With Derek Jeter’s camp showing movement, the Yankees on Thursday increased their three-year, $45 million offer to their captain.

According to a person who was briefed on the issue, the Yankees informed agent Casey Close they were willing to hike the dollars, although the person didn’t divulge how much the increase would be.

Following a Tuesday night face-to-face meeting in Tampa between the Yankees, Jeter and Close, the ball was placed in Jeter’s sure hands. After not talking Wednesday, the sides had conversations Thursday.

It was then the Yankees were informed Jeter was willing to lower his sights from the four- or five-year deal at $23 million per he was seeking. (NY Post)

Jeter willing to settle for $22 to $24 million per

After weeks of inflammatory rhetoric, the messy negotiations between free-agent Derek Jeter and the Yankees appear to be inching toward a middle ground.

A day after the Daily News reported that the starting point for Jeter's side was $150 million over six years - figures that the shortstop's agent, Casey Close, said Friday were "inaccurate" - a source with knowledge of the talks said the Yankee captain's camp had come down slightly.

Jeter's side, the source said, has proposed a five-year deal worth between $22 million-$24 million per year, down from the $25 million average annual value that a six-year, $150 million contract represents. (News)