Derek Jeter had a rather tumultuous offseason — relatively speaking, of course. The generally relaxed Jeter had his contract negotiations thrust into the spotlight of the New York and national media, and he voiced his displeasure regarding the situation at his news conference in Florida.
That statement came after Yankees general manager Brian Cashman invited the face of the Yankee franchise to "test the market" to see if he could find a better deal. Those certainly won't be words that No. 2 forget any time soon.
Neither are these: "If he's ever gonna move, it's probably gonna be a Robin Yount situation."
That is what Cashman said on Tuesday at a breakfast sponsored by WFAN in New York, according to ESPN.com, and it was in reference to a possible change of position for Jeter.
Cashman stressed that in no way is a move from shortstop to the outfield imminent, but he did open the door for its possibility.
"We don't have to deal with it at this point. We'll deal with it when we have to," Cashman added.
Perhaps sensing he had already opened the floodgates, Cashman tried to backtrack a bit, saying that Jeter is "working hard" to be able to remain a shortstop for the duration of his contract and that he's not in danger of losing his job at spring training.
"Jeter's our shortstop, period," Cashman said, but it might have been a little too late. Spring training just got that much more fun for reporters heading to Tampa next month and that much more annoying for Jeter and Cashman.
