I got an email today at work from a friend telling me that the Yankees told Derek Jeter to test the free agent offers. My first thought was this was a bunch of smoke and posturing by the New York Yankees.
Then I heard Mike Francessa of WFAN radio say at a gathering last week, he personally spoke with Yankees gm Brian Cashman who allegedly told Mike that he was negotiating with Jeter as if he was any other ballplayer.
That is the problem because Derek Jeter is not any other baseball player. He’s the face of the franchise that has done nothing but be a great commodity in the lineage of Ruth, DiMaggio, and Mantle.
That’s what Jeter is to the Yankees.
Yankees fan were calling FAN vowing to never support the Yankees again. Cashman could be making a huge mistake.
ESPN reports that the New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Tuesday that the Yankees have made a "fair and appropriate" contract offer to Derek Jeter and suggested that if the 36-year-old shortstop thinks otherwise, he should shop himself around to find out.
"We understand his contributions to the franchise and our offer has taken them into account," Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com. "We've encouraged him to test the market and see if there's something he would prefer other than this. If he can, fine. That's the way it works."
Cashman was clearly stung by the recent statement of Jeter's agent, Casey Close, who was quoted in Sunday's New York Daily News as saying he was "baffled" by the team's negotiating strategy.
"I was certainly surprised,"
Cashman said in regards to Close's use of the word baffled. "There's nothing baffling about our position. We have actually gone directly face to face with Casey and Derek and been very honest and direct. They know exactly where we sit
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