Wise Words From the Captain

“It’s a bump in the road, but it happens. You just have to work your way through it. If we win, we'll be where we want to be. We’re not chasing anybody.”

So true.

Derek Jeter is Underrated

Believe it or not, this is the growing consensus. After going after Jeter for a few grafs, SI's Joe Posnanski, a Bill James-type writer if there ever was one, finally celebrates the Yankees captain and his remarkable 2009 season.  He writes:

I think that in many ways Derek Jeter this year has added a third title. He has, against all odds, become UNDERRATED. And that is a wicked turn. I think Jeter at 35 is having one of his greatest seasons. I think he's playing defense better than he ever has, he's getting on base and slugging like he did in his prime, and in my view he has been the Yankees most valuable player in 2009. And, for once, it's funny, I don't hear too many other people talking about it.

For years, Jeter's abilities, specifically his defensive chops, have been simultaneously championed and dismissed by his admirers and detractors. His fans, as Posnanski points out, argue that Jeter's greatness cannot be measured by simple statistics. How, his fans argue, can you quantify this or this? His detractors, on the other hand, highlight his limited range and declining UZR rating. And, you know what, both camps are right. From year to year, Jeter, while playing at an enviably high level, isn't the best shortstop in the league. (Hell, when A-Rod came over in 2004, Jeter, some argued, wasn't even the best shortstop on his team). This year, too, for instance, Florida's Hanley Ramirez and Tampa's Jason Bartlett enjoy better offensive numbers, while Texas' Elvis Andrus, Milwaukee's J.J. Hardy, Toronto's Marco Scutaro and Los Angeles' Raphael Furcal, according to FanGraphs, are better defensively. 

Since he broke into the league, though, Jeter's been one hell of a baseball player. It's about time his numbers, the hitherto computable evidence against him, are finally in step with what Jeter's fans have been saying for years. He's simply one of the best in the game. 

Et tu, B-Cash?

Former Yankees skipper Joe Torre is still less than pleased with the way his tenure with the club ended. According to Bill Madden of New York's "Daily News," in his new book, The Yankees Years, which was co-written by "Sports Illustrated" writer Tom Verducci, Torre lashes out against Alex Rodriguez and General Manager Brian Cashman.

While discussing the complicated talents of Rodriguez, Torre reportedly reveals that a number of Yankees referred to A-Rod as "A-Fraud," and writes that Rodriguez was "obsessed" with his rivalry with Derek Jeter. No big surprises there. Rodriguez's tenuous relationship with Jeter and his other teammates is already pretty well-documented, most notably in this damning "Sports Illustrated" profile of Rodriguez, which was written by, yep, Tom Verducci prior to the Yankees' first-round loss to the eventual World Series champions Detroit Tigers in 2006.  Anyone who follows baseball knows that A-Rod is fragile, to say the least. The fact that the 30 or so guys who spend approximately two-thirds of the year with him are also aware of Alex's fragility should come as little or no surprise.  

Torre also goes on to cast a startling light on how Yankees owner George Steinbrenner goes about his shadowy business, reportedly keeping a close tab on Torre via strategically placed spies in every corner of the clubhouse. According to Madden, Steinbrenner already knew about Torre's prostrate cancer diagnosis before Torre even had a chance to inform him of the news. Super creepy, even if, again, not particularly surprising.

What is surprising, however, is Torre's public outing of Brian Cashman as a traitor. Since Torre left the Yankees to manage the Los Angeles Dodgers, the official line has been that Hal and Hank Steinbrenner wanted Torre out, while Cashman fought unsuccessfully for retaining Torre, the skipper who guided the Yankees to four championships, six American League pennants and 12 divisional titles in each of his 12 seasons managing the club. Not the case. Torre claims Cashman betrayed him on "several fronts."

I'm sure much of this is Torre just wanting to set the record straight about what really went down during his tenure with the Yankees, and the majority of the book probably deals with the team's many successes. Torre simply doesn't burn bridges or hardly ever talks out of school, and any controversy surrounding the book's publication, which is slated for February 1, should die down before Spring Training. 

Still, this new insight into the inner workings of the Yankees organization is sure to rub longtime Yankees fans the wrong way, especially those of us who hold Torre in the highest of regard.

UPDATE: According to ESPN's Buster Olney, Torre called Brian Cashman yesterday afternoon to clear the air. Cashman told Olney that he holds no hard feelings and that he still considers Torre a friend, saying he is "very comfortable with my relationship with him."  

Meanwhile, Tom Verducci told "Sports Illustrated" that context is everything. He says:

I think it's important to understand context here. The book is not a first-person book by Joe Torre, it's a third-person narrative based on 12 years of knowing the Yankees and it's about the changes in the game in that period. [...] Joe Torre does not rip anybody in the book. The book really needs to be read in context.

Anybody who knows Joe, especially during his time in New York, knows he's a very honest man and he is very honest in the pages of this book. People also know Joe Torre doesn't go around ripping people and he doesn't do that in the pages of this book. There is a lot of information in this book over a tremendous period of baseball history. It's been reported out by me as well as informed by Torre's own insights into that period.

So there you have it. It is interesting, though, that neither Torre nor Verducci, when given the chance, didn't exactly back down from what Torre reportedly said about Cashman.