Derek Jeter Copies LeBron

Derek Jeter, evidently, thinks he’s worth bundles. To the tune of $150 million over six years. Derek didn’t pay attention to what happened to LeBron. This report is from Hardball Talk.

That according to Bill Madden of the Daily News. It was at least his starting point, and even if he has come down in terms of length — which is a possibility — Madden says that Jeter is still insisting on a $25 million per year deal.  Madden credits that to “sources close to the Jeter/Close camp,” so unless he’s just lying, this is not some team talking point designed to cast Jeter in a greedy light.

Even if you subscribe to the most robust “Derek Jeter is the Alpha and Omega of the Yankee Brand” theory — which I don’t — that is pure madness. $25 million, even over a shorter period of time is crazy. A six-year deal at almost any average annual value to which one could envision Jeter agreeing is likewise nuts. The two together? Mercy.

If Madden is correct about these figures, it explains why the Yankees have been making the statements they have made about Jeter’s age and skills and about how he should test the market. There is clearly a reality deficit disorder on the player’s side, and the only way to deal with delusion so strong is to throw some cold water on it.

And if Jeter is still demanding something like this Brian Cashman should issue a simple response: Enjoy San Francisco, Derek.