Players from this generation who are/were better than Derek Jeter

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Jeter is fairly amazing if you ask me.  Yes, the guy had some things working for him.  Drafted by the Yankees doesn't hurt.  Playing in the #1 media market helps, as long as you play well.  But that guy would've been a HOF shortstop regardless of where he was drafted and played.  He played the equivalent of 18 full seasons (only had 50ish ABs in season 1 and 73 last season) and still finished 6th all-time in hits.  With a little luck he could've finished 4th, with only Rose, Cobb and Aaron ahead of him.  Played a premium position well and was a primary cog, arguably the most important offensive/defensive player, on 5 world champions.  He is not undeserving of the adulation he is receiving.  However, other great players of his generation were equally deserving and just didn't receive the fanfare he's getting.  Can't blame him for that, though, IMO.

 

I would've loved having a player of his ilk grace SS for us for the past 20 season.  This coming from a non-Jeter nut swinger.

[Count Orlok]

Nobody has said Adrian Beltre yet.

[DW711]

I have (maybe in another thread), but not sure if he's better.

 

Beltre is actually improving, though.

Edited September 27, 2014 by DW711

[HaloMagic]

There are very few shortstops who were better that Jeter.

[happybat4]

Nobody is saying he is the greatest. Yes all time great is arbitrary. I consider anyone in the HOF an all time great. That's just me. People like him because of how he handled himself in the tremendous spotlight. If he didn't play in New York he still would have been popular and a HOF. He did play in New York though so everybody got to know him.

[HaloMilliVanilli]

Enshrinement into the Hall of Fame = All-time great in my book.  Would he be in my top 30 all-time?  Probably not.  Top 10 shortstop of all-time.  Not a doubt.  Top 5?  I'd say yes.  That's not too shabby.

[Butcher'd]

Randy Johnson and Greg Maddux

[Lou]

so what you're saying ... is that Jeter held the Yankees hostage batting 2nd the same way Pujols is holding the Angels hostage batting 3rd?

 

who should bat 3rd?

[Lou]

Quinlan was right. People just didn't like Bonds even compared to other steroids guys like McGuire because he wasn't humble about it -- he'd come right out and tell you he was the best player in baseball himself.

 

you forgot to mention that Bonds was a major Ahole

[Lou]

I'm amazed that Pujols has hardly been mentioned.

[fan_since79]

Players who were better than Barry Bonds:

 

 

 

Nobody

 

The Barry Bonds with the normal head or the one with the gigantic head?

 

Two different people.

[Deek]

Let's look at the span of Jeter's career, 1995-2014.

 

Top players by fWAR:

1. Alex Rodriguez 111.3

2. Barry Bonds 99.1

3. Albert Pujols 90.5

4. Chipper Jones 84.7

5. Derek Jeter 73.6

 

So according to fWAR, Jeter was the fifth most valuable position player over the span of his career. Of course that doesn't say anything about peak level, but it does give a sense of just how consistently good he's been over two decades. There are probably a few dozen players who were better than him during that span at their peaks, but only four who contributes more overall value.

 

1 - So, in my book, he's #3 on this list (which isn't position-specific) - the top two are immaterial cheaters...

2 - His OPS compared to other All Star/HOF SS is ridiculous...

3 - He has an entire portfolio of clutch performances on the biggest stages (ALDS, WS, post-9/11...)

4 - In this era of poor-character-quality athletes, I put a premium on guys that go about their business, act like professionals and don't beat or cheat on their wives, do drugs or take steroids, or act like Jr. High aged children between the lines...

5 - Longevity means something in my book.  You don't stick around in this high-priced business unless you add some perceived value by a good number of individuals in coaching and management...

6 - When I think of "icons" of the MLB franchise over my lifetime, I think of guys like Ripken, Schmidt, Brett, Pujols, Jeter, Maddux, Chipper, Pedro... I realize some of that perception is shaped by the media, but there's a lot of commonality among those names (I almost put Molitor and Griffey on that list, but...).  Closer to home we have Nolan, Salmon - and Trout someday...

 

I'm not a Yankee fan, but I don't understand all of the energy expended by Jeter detractors at present.  He's one of the greats.  He's earned the adulation and retrospect of the past few days...

[disarcina]

don't know why people bag on Jeetz.

 

great all around player, not the best defensive SS of this generation (Id rank Ozzie Smith at the top and Omar Vizquel next), not the best offensive numbers for an SS (Am sure A-Rod's true SS numbers -- i.e. batting stats for games where he played SS -- and even perhaps Ripken's are probably better).

 

but as an overall player, for what he brings to the team, offense, defense, clutch plays, leadership etc. he ranks way up there (perhaps Ripken is his main competition there at SS -- but Jeetz has the championship rings and Ripken doesn't) as for A-Rod -- well, for the same reason Barry Bonds and others stats are tainted, so are A-Rod's........

 

The game of baseball as a whole is going to miss Derek Jeter being out there day in and day out.........these kinds of players don't exist any more in this game and that's really bad for the game of baseball.

 

Greatest players during Jeetz's time ?  I always thought that Ken Giffey Jr was on his way to becoming , perhaps, the greatest baseball player of all time surpassing the likes of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Ruth etc......when he got traded from Seattle to Cincinnati, he got off to a poor start in Cincy, got injured and the wheels sort of came off his stellar career ----he still put of HOF numbers but the trajectory to greatness (at the Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Tiger Woods level) went off course.......

 

Jeter will go down as one of the greatest of all time.  It's that simple.