Contract Crowdsourcing Results: Derek Jeter

The crowd has spoken, and Derek Jeter will not be getting anything close to the 5 year, $100 million deal that was rumored before the season. His relatively poor performance this year, combined with his age, has the crowd thinking that settle for a deal that pays him about half of that.

Average length: 3.38 years
Average salary: $14.91 million

Median length: 3 years
Median salary: $15 million

Standard deviation, length: 0.82 years
Standard deviation, salary: $4.20 million

While our first two subjects both had standard deviations of just under $3 million in salary, Jeter blows that out of the water. There’s a huge difference of opinion over what his annual salary will be, though most everyone agrees that he’s looking at a 3 or 4 year deal. Salaries range from as little as $4 million all the way up to the maximum of $25 million, with each number across the board being fairly represented. Some people clearly think that Jeter will get paid for what he has been, while others feel that he’ll end up getting what the market will bear, and that it won’t be kind to a 36-year-old coming off a bad year.

In the comments, someone made the comparison to Chipper Jones, and I think thats a good one. Like Jeter, he’s a one organization guy, and both parties wanted to see him end his career in the same uniform he has always worn. The Braves gave Jones a 3 year, $42 million deal for his age 37-39 seasons, though his age 36 season was significantly better than what Jeter is putting up right now. On the other hand, the Yankees have more money than the Braves and Jeter probably has more perceived intangible value.

The Chipper contract looks to be a pretty good template for the Yankees to use, and it’s right in line with what the crowd thinks he’s going to get. 3/45 – it’s probably less than what Jeter was hoping for, but about what he deserves. It’s a fair deal for both sides.