Yankees and Jeter Closing In On Deal
N E W Y O R K, Feb. 2 -- Derek Jeter's big-money deal with the New YorkYankees could be only a few days away.
New York and its All-Star shortstop hope to agree by next weekto a contract for nine or 10 years, worth an average of $18 millionto $19 million per season.
The sides have been negotiating for weeks and are trying tocomplete the talks before a scheduled arbitration hearing Monday inPhoenix.
Second-Highest in Sports History?
They have narrowed their differences in recent days, and onebaseball official with knowledge of the talks, speaking on thecondition he not be identified, said Thursday an agreement waslikely within a few days.
At that price, the contract would total $162 million to $190million, which would be the second-highest in sports history,trailing only the $252 million, 10-year deal agreed to in Decemberby Jeter's friend, Alex Rodriguez, and the Texas Rangers.
Last winter, Jeter and the Yankees reached a tentative agreementon a $118.5 million, seven-year contract, but Yankees owner GeorgeSteinbrenner refused to finalize the deal because its averagesalary of $16,928,571 would have been the highest in baseball atthe time.
Jeter and the team then agreed to a $10 million, one-yearcontract. The Yankees went on to win their third straight WorldSeries, their fourth in the five years Jeter has been with theteam. The 26-year-old shortstop then was voted most valuable playerof both the All-Star game and the World Series.
All-Star Could Be in Top Three
Jeter, eligible for salary arbitration after next season,appears likely to wind up with the third-highest average salary inbaseball, trailing only Rodriguez ($25.2 million), and Bostonoutfielder Manny Ramirez ($20 million), who agreed in December to a$160 million, eight-year contract.
In arbitration, Jeter asked for $18.5 million, which would bethe highest one-year contract in baseball history. The Yankeescountered at $14.25 million, the highest amount offered by a team,but neither side expects the case to go to a hearing.
