We’ve talked a lot about how, for Casey Close to get any leverage, he has to get another team in on the Derek Jeter bidding. But there are other constituencies at his disposal. No, they’re not as strong as having a competing offer on the table, but there is a certain brand of Yankees fan who agree with reader metalhead65 that Jeter is worth whatever he asks for:*
Are things really this slow in baseball that you have constantly bombard us with your anti-Jeter rants? You obviously have a personal agenda against the guy who is doing what every free agent does and that is try get as much as possible and since this will be his last contract who can blame the guy? And again please spare me all your stats real and made up ones. We get it he had an off year and is getting older so what? While the Yankees would continue to win without him he is still, like it or not, the face of the franchise. It does not mean anything to you, we get that, but he does to the fans of that franchise and to the city of New York. Now that doesn’t mean they have to pay him but it also does not mean you have to write a column about how he does not deserve it every 5 minutes and point out all his flaws as a player.
I don’t think the Yankees are going to take this kind of sentiment into account as they negotiate and I don’t believe that it will ultimately impact Jeter’s ultimate deal. But it’s not like Jeter and Close are completely inventing the notion of Jeter’s value beyond mere baseball terms. Some people believe it.
*edited slightly for readability