As the Rumor Mill Turns...

ESPN New York's Wallace Matthews has some insider information on the Jeter negotiations:

"Derek Jeter is going to be paid Ryan Howard money for putting up Marco Scutaro numbers.

The Yankees are going to overpay him," said a source with intimate knowledge of the discussions between the team and Casey Close, Jeter's agent. "The question is, how much are they going to overpay him?"

Rumors are that the Yankees will start off negotiations at 3 years and $45M, but they're prepared to go as high as $60M depending on how things progress.  Paying Jeter $15M per season is definitely a reach, but it's still within the reasonable range.  $20M per season borders on reckless.  I'm not saying it's surprising or shocking, just risky.  The blogger formerly known as Shysterball gives an interesting perspective:

"The $15-20 million figure for Jeter is not too far off from what the pundits had been predicted. A little on the high side if they go $20 million a year, of course. And no matter where it ends up, the deal will be worth way more than Jeter is worth on purely baseball merits. But hey, it’s Jeter. It’s the Yankees. You knew those crazy kids were going to stick together and you knew it was going to be expensive."

And so it goes in Yankee world.  And so it goes...