Jeter deal coming soon? Maybe…

The old “someone familiar with the talks” angle is active again, this Friday evening:

Day-long negotiations between the Yankees and star shortstop Derek Jeter have yielded “substantial progress,” according to someone familiar with the talks. The sides could agree to terms on a new contract as early as Friday night or Saturday, the person said. [...]

The sides are believed to now be in the neighborhood of $19 million annually. Jeter averaged $18.9 million over the 10-year deal that expired at the end of this season.

The source said it is still unlikely that the Yankees will offer Jeter a guaranteed fourth year, but may have agreed to a vesting fourth year with reachable parameters.

If you’re going to overpay, keep the number of years short. I thought $15m/yr was a solid, fair proposal but I have also been saying for a while that the extra $5m or so it might take to “show the respect” would not be a meaningful point to argue long term. If this deal winds up being something like 3 years, $57m (+$3m buyout and attainable vesting 4th year), so be it. It’s right where I predicted two weeks ago. It’s miles ahead of “fair market” and there’s enough genuflection to salve Jeter’s ego (Yankee For Life?). Perhaps I’m just fed up enough to not care that much at this point. I just want this to be done so we can better focus on the rest of the Hot Stove season and how we can get all our goodies in within our budget.

For all, and I mean ALL, of the Jeter contract melodrama, check here. We’re pretty tapped out.

Keep your eyes peeled for the white smoke out of the chimney.

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‘Cuse coming to Yankee Stadium!

This will be great news for a few of us, but if you’re one of us, celebrate! And I’ll see you there!

Syracuse is headed to the inaugural New Era Pinstripe Bowl, FanHouse has learned. [...]

The New Era Pinstripe Bowl will be played at Yankee Stadium on Dec. 30.

Who’s with me? Evidently lotsa you might be:

“This is a fabulous opportunity for our institution, as many alums live in the area and our fans can descend upon New York City for the holidays,” Dr. Daryl Gross, Syracuse’s athletics director, said in a statement. “We continue to want to represent as New York’s college team as we are the only B.C.S. school in the state of New York and plan to paint the city orange.”

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“Sources” believe Jesus is coming

Now, much has been made about Montero’s defense and the reports are all over the place. ?Some state his defense is terrible, other’s say that it’s improving. BaseballAmerica is about to put their 2011 prospect rankings out and Montero’s upside is in line with Mike Piazza. Sign me up, please. ?So long as his defense is no worse than Posada’s declining receiving skills, that’s fine by me. I admire and respect Posada as much as Jeter and Mo, but the rigors of the position have clearly taken its toll.

Brien recently took a look at Montero’s value as a trade chip and Mark dug into Zack Greinke a bit too. ?Heck, Brien was asking for Montero earlier this season! We know the issues surrounding Greinke (noted anxiety problem, inclusion of Yanks and RedSox on his No Trade list), so that’s probably out. ?So aside from a guy like King Felix (ain’t gonna happen despite all of my bedside prayers), the Yanks don’t think there’s a guy out there to trade Montero for, right now:

Many industry experts believe that the Yankees have tried to inflate Montero’s value in order to use him in a trade for a starting pitcher if they’re unable to sign Lee, but as the source noted, “There really aren’t any pitchers of that caliber out there to trade for.”

There very well might be a group of pitchers worth trading for, but it takes two to tango… Unless you’re going to tell me that upper-echelon guys Adam Wainwright, Justin Verlander, Dan Haren, Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum are available, I’m OK with seeing what this kid can do. ?And for the record, I do not think any of those guys (aside from maybe Dan Haren) is even within the realm of possibility. ?I retain the right to be stunned, however.

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For all things Jesus Montero-related, click here.

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