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Derek Jeter Has Surgery to Repair Left Ankle Fracture, With Yankees Hopeful He Can Return for Spring Training

The New York Yankees were eliminated from the MLB playoffs just two days ago, but the team's young offseason has already drawn plenty of headlines.

On Saturday, the team announced that shortstop Derek Jeter had surgery to repair a fractured left ankle. Jeter was hurt while trying to field a ground ball in the 12th inning of Game 1 of the American League Championship Series.

If all goes well during Jeter's recovery, the 38-year-old should be ready for spring training come February, according to MLB.com.

Dr. Robert Anderson, who operated on Jeter, said Jeter's recovery should take close to five months, but New York general manager Brian Cashman and the Yankees have said they hope the process will take closer to four months.

"I believe that Dr. Anderson just put in a more conservative time frame on it, as explained to me," Cashman told MLB.com. "So there's no new information, nothing seen worse than what our team doctor saw. But in terms of the time frame, I just think [Anderson] wanted to be more conservative with it, so that's what we're going to go with."

The Yankees have strength at shortstop should Jeter's recovery take longer.

"We do have Eduardo Nunez, we have Jayson Nix [as backups]," Cashman said when asked about finding a replacement for Jeter in the offseason. "So it's not something we've focused on, and I wouldn't think that that's something I would gravitate to."

Jeter's ankle may be among the easier questions to answer this offseason.