Derek Jeter

I didn't want it to come to this, but I have been forced by the abundance of fools out there to do an ongoing playoff commentary. This morning's subject is the incomparable, immortal, too good for his own good, the Yankee captain, the one and only, Derek Sanderson Jeter. I intend to set the record straight in terms of how I feel about his performance on the field of play, i.e. the only place where things matter. Without further adieu, let's begin.

Derek Jeter is a top MVP candidate in the American League this year. He had, at the very worst, the 2nd best season of his career. I would like to compare his statistics to a few other players, some of whom are also viable MVP candidates.

Jeter: .343 AVG, 118 Runs, 214 Hits, 97 RBI, 39 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 102 Ks, 69 BBs, 34 SB, .417 OBP, .483 SLG, .900 OPS

Ortiz: .287 AVG, 115 Runs, 160 Hits, 137 RBI, 29 2B, 2 3B, 54 HR, 117 Ks, 119 BBs, 1 SB, .413 OBP, .636 SLG, 1.049 OPS

Dye: .315 AVG, 103 Runs, 170 Hits, 120 RBI, 27 2B, 3 3B, 44 HR, 118 Ks, 59 BBs, 7 SB, .385 OBP, .622 SLG, 1.007 OPS

Mauer: .347 AVG, 86 Runs, 181 Hits, 84 RBI, 36 2B, 4 3B, 13 HR, 54 Ks, 79 BBs, 8 SB, .429 OBP, .507 SLG, .936 OPS

Morneau: .321 AVG, 97 Runs, 190 Hits, 130 RBI, 37 2B, 1 3B, 34 HR, 93 Ks, 53 BBs, 3 SB, .375 OBP, .507 SLG, .934 OPS

Rodriguez: .290 AVG, 113 Runs, 166 Hits, 121 RBI, 26 2B, 1 3B, 35 HR, 139 Ks, 90 BBs, 15 SB, .392 OBP, .523 SLG, .915 OPS

What can we glean from this? It seems that Derek Jeter does a little bit of everything. 97 RBI from the 2 hole is very impressive, although not surprising considering Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon got on base all the time. He hits for average as well as Mauer, he has more hits than all of them, strikes out a bit much and doesn't walk as much, but that's mostly because they can't pitch around him because of who bats behind him.
Now we'll look at one of the more popular new-fangled stats out there. VORP stands for Value Over Replacement Player. This statistic shows how much more valuable a player is than the average bench player in terms of how much run production he adds to his team. Without going through all the calculations, it was determined on baseballprospectus.com, that Jeter's VORP for the season was 79.2. In other words, Jeter is worth around 79 more runs per season than, say, Miguel Cairo. 79.2 was the 4th highest VORP in the league behind Albert Pujols (86.6), Ryan Howard (81.3), and Travis Hafner (80.4).
So, what have we determined? Jeter is a great player. We'll say more about him soon.

On the cover of the most recent issue of ESPN the Magazine sits Jose Reyes. They argue that Reyes might be the best shortstop in New York. Truth be told, I find it unfair to compare the two of them, because Jeter has been great for over a decade now, and Reyes is only 23. But, because it's fun, let's compare them anyway. Again:

Jeter: .343 AVG, 118 Runs, 214 Hits, 97 RBI, 39 2B, 3 3B, 14 HR, 102 Ks, 69 BBs, 34 SB, .417 OBP, .483 SLG, .900 OPS in 623 ABs

Reyes: .300 AVG, 122 Runs, 194 Hits, 81 RBI, 30 2B, 17 3B, 19 HR, 81 Ks, 53 BBs, 64 SB, .354 OBP, .487 SLG, .841 OPS in 647 ABs

Jeter is clearly a more experienced hitter, since he has 16 more BBs in 24 fewer at bats. Again, 97 RBI from the 2 hole is extremely impressive, but I would venture to say that 81 RBI from the leadoff spot on a National League team with the pitcher batting 9th is even more impressive. Reyes's improvement over last year in every statistical category is almost mind-boggling: 23 more Runs, 4 more hits, 6 more doubles, the same amount of triples (first guy to hit 17 triples in two straight seasons in the last half century), 12 more HRs, 23 more RBI, a frightening 26 more walks, 4 more stolen bases, .27 higher batting average, an absurd .54 higher OBP, and an astounding .101 higher SLG, giving him .155 higher OPS.

My point is this: Right now, Derek Jeter is a better shortstop. If I could trade Jose Reyes for Derek Jeter just for the playoffs, I think I would. I'm not one of these morons who says, "oh, he has a very high ceiling...tremendous upside, etc." Even if Reyes puts up the same numbers for the next 15 years, he's a Hall of Famer. He probably will continue to improve, but for this discussion it's irrelevent. Derek Jeter is better right now. Period.

At this point I want to call attention to his play last night. 5 for 5 with a home run, 3 runs scored and an RBI was a performance for the ages. I heard it was the 6th time a player has ever had 5 hits in a playoff game. The Yankees won last night largely because of Jeter's play. Not, I repeat, NOT because he's Captain Intangibles. Joe Morgan, Tim McCarver, Michael Kay, and all their smelly brethren do nothing but insult their hero Jeter when they refer to him as such. As a math guy, the only thing I look for to determine a player's value is his play on the field. Jeter's numbers speak for themselves. For him to be called Captain Intangibles means that there is something lacking in his baseball skills. I want to call your attention to two plays, which fans/commentators always enjoy mentioning; the flip to Posada that Jeter made on Jeremy Giambi against the Oakland A's in the playoffs, and the play last year against the Red Sox when he fell into the stands. These were terrific plays, plain and simple. But to say that the reason the Yankees win is because Derek Jeter does things like that is just silly talk. I'm not saying that every player would be able to make those plays; I just think that he was in the right place at the right time. You cheer him because his face came away bloody. That doesn't make the play any greater than it would have been if he had come away unscathed. My point is that the Yankees win because Derek Jeter is a very good baseball player. As for Reyes, we'll check back in a few years and see how he's doing. But for now, Derek Jeter is the king of New York.