let the jeter discussions begin

[LANCEBOUSLEY]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=482462

[visick]

I don't think he's the worst fielder.

I do think Strat has been very kind to him in the past though.

[RICHARDMILTER]

Jhonny Peralta is a much worse fielding SS. Peralta is terrible.

[AeroDave10]

[quote:0c7db30574="rmilter"]Jhonny Peralta is a much worse fielding SS. Peralta is terrible.[/quote:0c7db30574]

You know you won't get any argument from me there. If anyone watched the Indians games on a consistent basis like Richard and I did this past year, it is immediately obvious how weak of a SS Peralta is. He has very slow feet and even worse reaction time and instincts. His arm is not that good, so unlike someone like Furcal or Reyes, he can't "make up" bad range with a strong, accurate throw. He has an above average bat for a SS, but strikes out too much, and isn't as feared as the old Jeter/A-Rod/Nomar triumverate of 10 years ago, so you really can't even excuse/justify Peralta's poor defensive performance by saying, "Well, at least he can hit."

[the splinter]

And to think the Tribe dumped Vizquel to make Peralta their SS. Omar was not that costly for SF to sign and he had 3 decent offensive years(for Omar) in SF before the injuries got him this past season. Peralta certainly slugged better over the past 3/4 years but his overall game was(is) nowhere near Omars.

[Ninersphan]

[quote:d08672e243="rmilter"]Jhonny Peralta is a much worse fielding SS. Peralta is terrible.[/quote:d08672e243]

Won't matter for much longer, Asdrubal Cabrera wiil be the SS there in the VERY near future, pushing Peralta to 2nd or 3b I'd imagine.

[AeroDave10]

[quote:79f56d3f47="Aray0113"]

Their 'statistics' can say whatever they want about the man, but the bottom line is he is a WINNER, plain and simple.

[/quote:79f56d3f47]

I don't think that position players in baseball can be labeled as "winners" because baseball really depends on so many individual efforts that one player (especially not the pitcher) controls so little of the game. That is evidenced by countless great players who have played on lousy teams and had very little or no playoff experience because the other guys on the team couldn't pull their weight. Along the same sentiments, successful baseball teams rely on the contributions of several individuals to winning championships.

Obviously Jeter performed well in the first 5 years of his career, and even performed well in the playoffs, but if the Yankees didn't get the same level of performance from guys like Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Andy Pettitte, Mariano Rivera, and others, Derek Jeter very well could have followed the path of his contemporary, Nomar Garciaparra, a great player on a good team that won never any championships.

If Jeter is a "winner", then what happened the last 8 years? Is it possible that not only have his skills eroded, but he has also been surrounded by players who were unable to perform when needed?