What's the rush?

"The fun with Derek Jeter and the Yankees really never stops and won't stop until he and the Yankees reach an agreement, and we can only pray that it's sooner rather than late."

I know you need stuff to talk about in the offseason, but this is not a big deal.

The Yankees traded for ARod in February. Then, a few years later, the Yankees signed him as a free agent in mid-December.

The Yankees waited until January to sign Bernie Williams.

CC Sabathia signed on December 20th.

Mark Teixeira signed on January 6th.


"Just so you know: The Yankees don't just want to cut Jeter's salary because he's getting older, or because he had his worst year. Or because his range has diminished - this at a time when you can actually see A-Rod calcifying in front of your eyes at third base - or because they don't want to be saddled with another huge contract for an aging champion.

They want to be able to sign Cliff Lee for an insane amount of money and then stand in front of their fans and say, Look, the payroll went down!"

Just so you know, it snows in December.

Thanks for the cogent analysis.

Oh, and if they're going to sign Cliff Lee, when?

I pray it's sooner rather than late.


"- We keep hearing that the Yankees can't bid against themselves on Jeter. No, because that would be wrong, wrong, wrong. Looking back over the past 10 years, we see that the Yankees never ever bid against themselves."

You keep hearing that from the straw man in your head.

Jeter will be overpaid. Everyone knows this.


"Hank, you made one guy rich:

A-Rod.

A-Rod opted out of his contract during Game 4 or the 2007 World Series and everybody from the groundskeepers on up at Yankee Stadium, old and new, knows that Cashman was ready to let him walk.

But not you.

Oh, no.

You gave him a contract that takes him to the age of 42 and could pay him up to $200 million, which means twice what A-Rod was going to make anywhere else."

Well, I think it's up to $275 million, and even that is not twice what ARod was going to make anywhere else. He had just hit 50 and driven in 150, for cryin' out loud.

But remember what you just said about Cashman was ready to let him walk? That's right. That's what they always say before they sign you.

This is not an unusual negotiating tactic, even for the Yankees. It's what they always do. When they overpay Jeter, Lupica will complain that they spent too much money on an old player.