Posted by burnsy483 on 3/14/2013 10:46:00 AM (view original):
Jeter becomes less valuable if he moves from SS. Like if you put Granderson at 1B.
I might prefer Matsui/Jeter than Jeter/Rollins, to be honest. And the Yankees wouldn't be paying Jeter the contracts he's had to play LF...he'd be on another team if the Yankees insisted on playing Rollins at SS. If Rollins even became available.
I completely agree about the value. And I'm not a huge Rollins fan, I just picked someone who has had a long career, is a definite upgrade defensively over Jeter, and who hasn't been terrible with the bat.
My main point is that maybe the Yankees could have been even better with Jeter at another position and a defensive upgrade at SS. For example, the 2002 Yankees lost in the LDS (after winning 103 games in the regular season). Rondel White (240/283/378 76 OPS+) was their primary left fielder. Alfonso Soriano (-35 UZR career at 2nd) was their primary second baseman.
If, and this is a big if, they could have found a good defensive shortstop with a bat better than Rondel White, they would have been better. Either by moving Jeter to 2nd and Soriano to left or by just moving Jeter to left.
Note: I'm taking a look at the good defensive SS from 2002-2005 and really, none stand out as good offensive players. It's guys like Jack Wilson. Orlando Cabrera, and Alex Gonzalez. Forget about moving Jeter, the Yankees should have focused on finding a left fielder who could actually hit.