You may remember how Derek Jeter’s contract negotiation with the Yankees in the 2010-2011 offseason was pretty contentious. Jeter was asking the Yankees for a four- to six-year deal in the $22-$24 million a year range. His agent, Casey Close, said that the Yankees were lowballing him and at one point Close described the Yankees’ negotiating strategy as “baffling.” They eventually reached a deal in early December for three years and $51 million with an option and some incentives. It was Jeter’s last contract with the Yankees.
This week Sports Illustrated’s S.L. Price reports that, at the time, things got even more blunt that we knew. According to Sports Illustrated, this went down during a face-to-face meeting between Cashman and Jeter:
Which, objectively, makes all sorts of sense. As a matter of ego-management, however, it was dreadful, and Price reports that Cashman and Jeter’s relationship never recovered, even if a deal was reached.
Some existential questions arise out of this regarding the level of “respect” a player who is past his prime deserves and, for that matter, whether the truth is more respectful than blowing smoke up their hind end.