Owners get a break, for now
Jeter Deal Set New Precedent in in Baseball's World of Greed
San Francisco Examiner, February 6, 2000
By Ray Ratto
WE ALL laughed when that puff of white smoke wafted from the roof of the Breathes in Milwaukee announcing that Bud Selig had been named Kenesaw Mountain Landis' representative on earth. Yeah, we scoffed, that'll work.
Shows what we know. He hasn't been on the job a fortnight, and already Derek Jeter is signing a contract at half his market value.
Not only that, he signed it with the Yankees, the team that has defined the market by overpaying for anything from Post-It Notes on up.
True, signing a one-year contract for $10Ēmillion would be a fairly inspirational moment for most of us, and Jeter, the nova-brilliant shortstop of the world champions, enjoys cashing his biweekly check for $384,615 as much as the next sap.
But in the shadow of the six-year, $84Ēmillion deal Shawn Green signed with the Dodgers, or the eight-year, $140Ēmillion Juan Gonzalez is negotiating with the Detroit Tigers, Jeter's deal looks like George Steinbrenner is shopping at QVC.
JETER and the Yankees were negotiating a seven-year, $118Ēmillion deal when the two sides decided heaven could wait and set tled on the current Fotomat contract. That one pencils out as better than Kevin Brown's, but not quite Gonzalez' deal in Detroit.
That is, if Gonzalez signs it. He is apparently having second thoughts about committing to Detroit for more than one season, even at these prices.
That's not the point, though. The point is, one of the three most attractive players in the game signed for less than he is worth, given the contracts of his contemporaries.
Now if that isn't progress from the owners' point of view, George W. Bush isn't made of styrofoam packing.
Plus, and let's be frank here, the owners are going to give Selig credit for any development that isn't an out-and-out tire fire. Why, they're probably crediting him for the A's winning their arbitration hearing with pitcher Ariel Prieto -- winning in this case meaning that Prieto only got a $90,000 raise for not pitching since April 1998 instead of a $290,000 raise.
The owners need even the hint of a win over the players, after all, because they are already starting to dig the trenches for the next labor war, which is still three years distant. Beating the umpires' union, after all, isn't the same thing, especially when the umpires cut off their own legs and thoughtfully bled on management's sword.
While it is true that Jeter is not yet eligible for free agency, and while it is also true that he and the Yankees simply middled the two sides of their arbitration dispute, he is still the best player on the best team in the biggest city in the world. He is also young, bright, charming, telegenic and will probably out-endorse even Ken Griffey Jr. by the end of his career.
Some people prefer the depth and breadth of Griffey's talent. Some opt for Nomar Garciaparra for his shortstop skills. Some like Griffey's Seattle teammate Alex Rodriguez for offensive numbers.
It matters not. Make the short list as short as you wish, Jeter's on it. In fact, he comes on the list before Gonzalez, Green or even the current ATM leader, Los Angeles' Kevin Brown. Three rings in four years as the Yankees' present and future says so. Any other signing of this magnitude is just betting on the come.
And Steinbrenner still saves almost $7.million on the deal. For any baseball owner, even under these largely illusory standards, it's a fabulous moment.
Of course, the Gonzalez deal will make Selig look just as bad as the Jeter deal makes him look good. The Tigers have a new ballpark, but there seems no way to crunch the numbers in a way to make back the former Texas Ranger powermonger's annual salary of $17.5.million.
Plus, Gonzalez is surely going to ask for more money if he has to spend the next eight years of his career in Detroit, based solely on current indications. This despite his career total of zero postseason victories.
Manny Ramirez' deal comes due in Cleveland at year's end, and extension talks are already scaring the Indians. Griffey is still trying to work his way to Cincinnati, having burned the last bridge back to Seattle, and he is surely going to take aim at the $20.million/year barrier. Rodriguez will probably want more than that.
Greed? Probably, but you'd be right there in line with them. Like it or not, these days there's less interest in being the Sultan of Swat than in being the Sultan of Brunei.
So yes, it's going to get worse for the owners, as always because they haven't the willpower to contain themselves and haven't the legal permission to curb each other's appetites through collusion.
But Derek Jeter only got $10.million, and he not only had a better year than Juan Gonzalez, he had a better year than Bill Gates. Nobody, after all, is demanding that the Justice Department break up Derek Jeter.
Thus, in the political wisdom of the day, you look at who's in charge when this good news is announced and you see Bud, his slightly confused stare behind those reading glasses and doughy complexion from too many hotel-quality club sandwiches.
That means the new, more powerful Bud already has his first win, even if he had nothing to do with it, even if it is only a transitory development, and even if it doesn't materially benefit the "small market" teams Bud has been "empowered" to save.
Like a 13-hit shutout, or an inside-the-park home run off the knob of the bat, looks don't count nearly as much in baseball. So way to go, Bud. Enjoy the moment. It's about to cloud over again, and soon.