"...it'd be a surprise if anything got too messy here..."The contracts of Jeter, Rivera and Girardi are up at season's end. But unlike past cases of of Damon, Alex Rodriguez or even Joe Torre, it'd be a surprise if anything got too messy here. This is just standard operating procedure for the Yankees, whose policy is to let contracts expire before dealing with extensions. In the case of Jeter, too, he's coming off an MVP-like season, so there's some bit of strategy in waiting until the last minute.
The last time they talked about a multiyear deal for Jeter, George Steinbrenner gave him $189 million for 10 years, an unheard-of figure at the time for a non-slugger following A-Rod's famous $252 million deal and also several months after Steinbrenner decided against a deal for about $115 million. This time the parameters seem much more predictable. Unless his estimable agent Casey Close pulls out another rabbit, Jeter should get three or four years for between $20 million and $25 million. Rivera should continue to set relief records, with a two-year deal north of $15 million a year seeming logical.
Girardi has proved to be a tough negotiator (it doesn't help that he's popular among other teams). But really, how does a manager who likes to change his number every year based on championships leave the Yankees?
Girardi also has an advantage in that the Steinbrenner family absolutely loves him. By the end, the feeling obviously was something less than that for Torre.
That's pretty much sums up how I feel about all this. Unless Mo has a terrible year he will get almost anything he wants, same goes for Jeter. And as long as the Yankees make the playoffs Girardi will get a fair deal.
