My esteemed but sometimes obtuse colleague mentioned that he would have Derek Jeter on his te
am over Alex Rodriguez. I agree, from a fans perspective, he may be on to something, but as an owner, GM or manager, he is out in left field (no pun intended). For fans, sports are all about memorable moments and not about production (statistics). For owners, GMs and managers, sports are about production. Fans base analysis on emotion while owners base analysis on more tangible things. Without factoring in the “baggage” associated with a player or any negative personality traits, as an owner, GM or manager, I would select Alex Rodriguez.
While Jeter is probably a first ballot Hall of Famer, A-Rod is arguably one of the top five position players to ever play the game. That, by itself, is argument enough. This is like comparing Jordan to Magic. While both are great players with multiple championships, Jordan is clearly many levels better than Magic.
Although intangibles are a variable for consideration, let’s not have it be the overriding variable in our analysis. Let’s certainly not cloud our judgment with who dates the hottest girls or who is on the cover of GQ magazine either. Let’s look at the raw stats and who comes to work and produces more day in and day out.
A-Rod Jeter
Seasons 15 14
BA .306 .316
RBI 1606 1002
HR 553 206
OBP .389 .387
SLGP .578 .458
Hits 2404 2535
As you can see, HR, RBI and SLGP are not comparable. Life is about producing everyday, even when you are not at your best and A-Rod has shown to be superior in this regard. I can also argue that while Jeter has 4 rings, he was also the beneficiary of playing with the real “Yankee Captains” of those teams like Paul O’Neill, Bernie Williams, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens, David Cone and David Wells to name a few. I will also argue since becoming “Yankee Captain” in 2003, Jeter has not lead the Yanks to a championship even though the Yanks had the highest payroll in baseball. Are those really the intangibles we are looking for? Sounds more like a follower than a leader. Who cares if you make one back handed “put-out” at home plate against the A’s if you are not winning championships. Those are memories, not production. My last compelling argument is their contracts. A-Rod gets paid more than Jeter, so obviously, the owner and GM also agree with me.
Ask yourself this question. Are you looking at this as a fan or as an owner? Don’t let all the media side shows cloud your judgment.
Tags: Alex Rodriguez, Derek Jeter, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, NY Yankees
