Pasta Diving Jeter

A lot has been made over the years of soon-to-be Yankees Hall of Fame shortstop Derek Jeter's shaky defense. I realize the aging superstar is retiring at the end of the 2014 campaign and we only have to deal with Michael Kay uttering "past a diving Jeter" for a few more months, but there is a valuable championship to be won THIS YEAR folks. After all, those knuckleheads from Beantown have won 3 championships in the past 9 years and are coming off a World Series Title.

If that is not fuel enough for skipper Joe Girardi to pull out all the stops this year I don't know what is. The simple move for Girardi is to cut down how often Jeter plays the shortstop position. Right now, backup infielder Brendan Ryan gets the nod once or twice a week (usually for a day game after a night game). The guys defense cannot be overstated either. Over their careers, Ryan has posted a total UZR of 0.8 while Derek Jeter boasts a UZR of -69.8. Now most of you gag at the sight of these advanced saber-metrics, but they do hold some value. Basically what I am getting at is Ryan has been the superior defender in his career and this year, consistently showing off his superb range, strong arm, and ability to save runs.

 Look I am all for loyalty and giving a man what he deserves  (Derek Jeter has been a key piece for 5 World Champion teams after all) but the guy can only handle so much praise, right? He is on his farewell tour, receiving parting gifts from all his opponents, has not slowed down the ability to continuously date supermodels like Jessica Alba and Minka Kelly, and he's scheduled to make $12 million this year after the Yankees restructured his contract over the winter. The King of New York will have to swallow his pride on this one. A little more time on the bench or in the DH position will do wonders for the Yankees defensively all the while saving those aching legs for the playoffs. If you've been watching the Yankees this year, you'd see that Soriano and his .231/.254/.387 clip is nothing spectacular. Slotting Jeter in as the DH against lefties and Ichiro against righties seems like the perfect match; keeping Soriano on the bench for pinch-hit situations.