Jeter's MVP snub may be related to A-Rod

Nov 21, 2006

For years admirers of Derek Jeter have tried to persuade the detractors that there was more to the Yankee shortstop than any stat sheet could reveal. He was Mr. Intangible. Either you believed in such things and admired all that he brought to the game that is not easily quantified or you pooh-poohed such attributes as the result of folks wanting to see qualities that simply were not there.

How fascinating it is, therefore, that Jeter failed to win the AL MVP award on Tuesday not because of his statistics, but probably because of intangible qualities. How ironic that his distant relationship with the last Yankee to win the MVP, Alex Rodriguez, very possibly cost him this honor. As a shortstop, Jeter’s stats should have won the day. Remarkably it was as a captain that Mr. Intangible might have lost the swing votes necessary to carry this day.

Amazingly, the lesson here is that Jeter does not need to do better at the plate or in the field, but perhaps he needs to do better with Rodriguez.

Rodriguez suffered through a season of far too much inconsistency and inadequacy even if the final results statistically were still better than any AL third baseman. That speaks to Rodriguez’s talent. He can play miserably for substantial stretches of the schedule and still produce his seventh season of at least 35 homers and 120 RBIs, the most among any active player.

Derek Jeter and A-Rod missed being the seventh pair of Yankees teammates to win back-to-back MVPs by 14 points. (AP)

But we have seen Rodriguez long enough now in New York to know there is more to this complicated player than just his wondrous skills. If it were just about ability, Rodriguez would win the MVP every year. However, Rodriguez tends to detract from his game by thinking too much, worrying too much about what others perceive. He complicates his game. He tends to press because he so badly wants to validate his reputation, lush contract and status as a Yankee.

I am not certain that outside influences can aid Rodriguez. It is most probable that he must work through these issues himself, gain a comfort zone in his skin and in New York by his own mechanisms. But I am sure of this, it does not help him in any way to have such a strained relationship with the player lined up beside him in the field.

Jeter and Rodriguez will attempt to tell anyone who will listen that their rapport is fine. But that is just not reality. That is something said by guys who are always protecting their images, guys who are selling to Madison Avenue and hardly want to be viewed as brewing anything close to dissension. However, from within their clubhouse and within their entourages, plenty of folks will tell you that there is no real fraternity between the two and that what exists, at best, is indifferent co-existence.

That is fine for Jeter, as tough mentally as anyone in the game. But Rodriguez is sensitive and insecure. That leads him to behave stupidly at times, perhaps nothing dumber than his acidic spewing about Jeter to Esquire five years ago. That harangue dissolved what had been a strong friendship. The belittling of Jeter’s game cracked the window into just how small and jealous Rodriguez can be over issues of status and national perception. But it also ended up showing much about Jeter.

He does not like confrontation and does not do squabbles publicly. But he has the ability to be icy, to deposit people completely outside of his life. He was wronged by Rodriguez in this matter and having a code with which he lives by is admirable, after all Jeter finds taking public shots at another player to be something worse than distasteful. And certainly being around Rodriguez constantly now for three years exposes Jeter to a behavior that he does not like, something he might - if he could ever have such a moment of truth - refer to as un-Yankee; a combination of high maintenance and low toughness.

But Jeter is also the captain of the Yankees and a player who asks to be defined by how the team performs. And, because of that, he must find a way to do better with Rodriguez, a way to recapture all the best of his intangible self. He needs to be captain to all the players, not just those he likes or admires. Because having Rodriguez more comfortable mentally could lead to better production for him and more wins for the Yankees.

Will the high-profile duo ever peacefully co-exist? (AP)

When he was confronted with the A-Rod issue during the season, Jeter turned confrontational himself. He said that he did plenty behind closed doors to support his most besieged teammate. He would challenge reporters on how they would handle this. It was all insincere. It was blatant that Jeter had deposited Rodriguez outside the igloo. His endorsements were half-hearted, lacking in anything resembling real support. He treated Rodriguez like the nuisance relative at Thanksgiving dinner; a presence that he had to accept but not show any amity toward.

And, in this case, neutrality spoke loudly. Jeter’s passion-less support could only be read for what it was: passive-aggressive hostility. It was read that way by his manager, his teammates and, most important, Rodriguez. Try as he might to project an edge of toughness, Rodriguez is soft, trapped in the strange conundrum of badly wanting his nemesis, Jeter, to like him. Heck, Rodriguez wants everyone to like him. Again, that is a big victory for Jeter, who essentially does not solicit adoration.

Jeter said he did not want to tell the fans what to do, specifically in requesting that they stop booing Rodriguez. But he did not have to do that directly. He even could have subtlely acknowledged the troubles in the union by saying something along the lines of: "I am not going to publicly gauge my level of friendship or affinity for every teammate. But suffice it to say whatever my real or perceived relationship is with Alex, the only thing that truly matters is that he is a Yankee and anyone who has seen me play for a decade knows that means I support him 100 percent and I hope everyone who cares about the Yankees winning supports him 100 percent. There have been plenty of Yankees over the years that I have not particularly liked, and that has not dissuaded my hope that they get a hit every time up or throw a no-hitter. Alex Rodriguez should know that when he wears a Yankee uniform, he has no bigger booster than me."

The message would have been clearly sent to every Yankee fan without directly telling them what to do: The most important player on the team says that once the game begins all pettiness gets put away and that only support of A-Rod will be tolerated.

Would that have helped? Maybe not Rodriguez, who really might have to get over this without outside assistance. But it sure would have helped Jeter’s MVP candidacy.