Jeter For Runner-Up... On His Own Team

(Note: Our weekly Knicks column "Section 423" appears immediately below this piece by Sip. Also, please note that we will be updating as per usual tomorrow, Friday and Saturday.)

When I was a freshman for my high school baseball team I hit .426. I led my team in runs scored and stolen bases and played a pretty decent SS while hitting in the #2 spot. My team was something like 15-2. It only made sense then, right? Sip for MVP.

The only person this really made sense to was Sippy Sr. Why the cheering section of one? Because batting behind me were the greatest 3-4-5 in the history of New York City private schools.

Our #3 hitter went yard once a game and was our best pitcher. Our #4 hitter, the team clown, was our Big Papi and then the big fella hitting 5th was New York City's Adam Dunn: he hit bombs or struck out.

If you took me off this team, we would have still dominated. Sure I brought the intangibles and made the ladies of Central Park go wild, but we won because we could mash. I was just there to be driven in.

Derek Jeter is a great player. He has had a tremendous career. To be so consistent year-in and year-out with the pressures of New York City in the foreground is really a tremendous feat.

Derek Jeter is a great talent. He has always been one of the top players in the game and at his position. He routinely hits .300, scores 100 runs, steals 20 bases and plays solid defense.

But Derek Jeter did not make a name for himself because of his talent. It isn't his .317 BA that has him going to the HOF. Derek Jeter is a star because he is a leader and a winner.

As a young player in New York, Jeter emerged as the clear cut leader of the Yankee dynasty. He was a playoff monster and an on-field inspiration.

As much as all Met fans hated him, you saw something special in this kid. I think it is safe to say that Derek Jeter is the Most Valuable Player of baseball over the last 10 years. I really do. What other player has been so solid for one team over such a long stretch of time?

At the same time, Jeter had ZERO business whatsoever being thought of as an MVP candidate this season. I have him no higher than #7.

For one thing, Jeter is not leading his team to championships anymore. I know, I know -- the writers vote on the MVP before the playoffs. Fine. One way or another, that big part of the Jeter mystique is gone. He is no longer the guy that you assumed would win, just because he was Jeter.

And that was what always made him great. In the late 90's he was a clear #3 in terms of talented SS' in baseball. A-Rod and Nomar were 1 and 2 by far. They were better hitters and back then, better fielders. But Jeter had his rings. He had four of them. But in six years since he's garnered no more.

The Yankees have not won in 6 years, cursed some have argued, and yet Jeter receives none of the blame. He received all of the praise in the world for them winning, but yet he receives none of the criticism when they lose.

So if he is not an MVP for his leadership and winning then we have to look at the MVP as an award for how his talent and numbers affected his team. Take the talent that is Derek Jeter off the Yankees and where do they end up.

The answer: The exact same place.

With a lineup averaging $14 million dollars in salary per year, the Yankees have no one position player that they cannot live without. They lost Sheffield and Matsui for large stretches this year and were still the best offense in baseball. BY FAR!

Jeter hit behind the best leadoff man in the game and hit ahead of the best 3-4-5 in the game. Why is it fair to say Paul Lo Duca's number's were inflated hitting behind Reyes and in front of Beltran-Delgado-Wright, but not say the same for Jeter?

Fact is, hitting #2 is the best place in the lineup to inflate your numbers. You have your speed guy on base distracting pitchers and you have your mashers behind you intimdiating them. No one is scared of Jeter hitting the ball out of the park. So here, take a single, they say.

I truly believe Jeter is the #7 MVP in the American League. Here is my order for what it should have been:

1. Frank Thomas

If you took Frank Thomas off the A's this year, then you'd be facing a minor league offense. Their lineup was flat out terrible without him. Nick Swisher's numbers appeared solid (.254, 35, 95) but 16 of those homeruns came before June 1st.

The A's had two starters that hit over .275 (Jay Payton and Jason Kendall) and the one player they counted on to hit, Eric Chavez, hit .241 with 72 RBI.

Then there is Frank Thomas (39 HR, 114 RBI, .270 AVG, .381 OBA). For those not living in the Bay Area, you missed yet another amazing Oakland A's second half. This team went 47-26 after the break to dominate the AL west.

Only this was not the Oakland A's of old. Rich Harden was hurt, Barry Zito and Action Danny Haren pitched solidly and Loaiza looked pretty good the last 6 weeks. But it was not pitching that carried this team.

It was Frank Thomas and Frank Thomas only. This guy was a MONSTER in the second half. He was the one sure thing every night. After July 1 he hit for a .291 average with 23 HR and 75 RBI). The guy carried his team.

Take him out of the A's lineup and your best hitter may be Jay Payton. Remember him? Five tools and everything? Without Thomas, the A's go nowhere. He defines value for this year.

That he got such little recognition is baffling. Maybe it's because people were so shocked that he came back like this. Maybe it's because they didn't believe it. Or more likely it is because he played in Oakland, a team that no one cares about, and in which everyone assumes that it is pitching and Billy Beane that win it for them every year.

I really don't think it was close this year. That is, unless we are counting pitchers in the balloting.

2. Johan Santana

The Twins won the Central because of Santana. As great as Morneau and Mauer were, without Santana, this team is a middle of the division club. Every 5th day you knew you would get a dominant start. He was by leaps and bounds the best pitcher in baseball this year. He was the one true ace in the game.

While the MVP traditionally goes to hitters, Santana is not a traditional pitcher.

Consider this: the second best pitcher in the AL was Chien Ming Wang. Wang was good for 7 innings and 3 runs a start.

This guy was 19-6, 2.77 ERA, 1.00 Whip, 245 K's.

No one was even close to him this year. Take him off the Twins and they are an 83-win team.

Value.

3. David Ortiz

The Sox totally faded in the last 6 weeks of the season. But on August 15th he was everyone's clear cut AL MVP. This guy combined insane numbers (54, 137, 287) with his Jeter-esque clutchness.

He powered the Sox in a somewhat off-year for Manny (35, 102) and in a year where the Sox really had little pitching outside of Jonathon Papelbon.

He was the team's leader, the heart of a city and the face of baseball. He was Jeter '99.

The Red Sox' collapse was not Papi's fault. The team simply forgot how to pitch. But take Papi out of that lineup and the Sox really have one threat, Manny Ramirez, a guy that even the people of Boston are starting to lose a ton of confidence in.

4/5: Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau

I'll be the first to admit that Justin Morneau should not have been the MVP of the AL. I think the guy was the 3rd or 4th most valuable player on his team.

But Morneau and Mauer were monsters this year forming maybe the greatest housemate duo of all time (they actually live together).

Both guys had career years.

Mauer (13, 84, .349) as a catcher. As a former high school catcher, my knees tired after game 7. This guy caught over 130 games.

Morneau's numbers are equally impressive (34, 130, .321). He came out of nowhere to lead the Happy Will Recap to a win in my bottom half payroll fantasy league.

Unfortunately, I think it is impossible to distinguish between these two. I really do. Mauer is the golden boy of the Twins. He is their leader, their #3 hitter and their homegrown baby. Yeah, Morneau had better power numbers but Mauer was the heart of that lineup.

I really believe these guys should just cancel each other out. That is why I was shocked that Morneau won.

Now we get to #6. Logically this should be Jeter. Only this is Y2K so it makes sense that we would want to slight Jeter. We would want to put anyone else up there, right?

In my opinion #6 was someone I despise more than Jeter. Not only is he a Yankee but he corrupted baseball. Still, in our generation of Steroids and dollars, this guy was a monster.

6: Jason Giambi

Giambi had Giambi-esque numbers this season (31, 113, .413 OBA). But more importantly, he carried the Yankees' lineup. With Matsui and Sheffield down and A-Rod sunning in Central Park before games, Giambi was the one expected power source in this lineup. The guy hit bombs to the short porch and wiggled his tongue while doing so.

Without him there is only A-Rod to protect Jeter. You pitch to Jeter and pitch around A-Rod and then what?

Without $50 mil worth of Giambi, Shef and Mastui, the Yankees lineup looks almost pedestrian.

So there you have it. I'll give Jeter the #7 spot just because I don't feel like writing more. But it sure would be easy to make a case for a bunch more players (Jermaine Dye, BJ Ryan, Jim Thome, and the list goes on and on).

I think Jeter is a great player. He was the MVP of baseball in '99 and got robbed.

He is quite possibly the most important player of our generation -- a generation filled with steroids and corruption.

But Jeter is no MVP.

Take away his rings and Jeter is nothing more than A-Rod with shittier numbers and a better personality.

And Jeter hasn't gotten a ring since I was in high school.

Yankees 2000: Promote the Curse!

Vaya con dios,

Sip