Best All-Time Shortstops Derek Jeter
"“I’m very, very competitive. If my grandmother asks me to race down the street, I’m going to try to beat her. And I’ll probably enjoy it!”—Derek Jeter"
In the last part of the 1990s and into the early 2000s, there were three shortstops in baseball who towered over the others. They were Alex Rodriguez, Nomar Garciaparra, and Derek Jeter.
A-Rod had the first great season of these shortstops when he was worth 9.2 WAR in 1996. That was Jeter’s first year as a regular and he had a 2.2 WAR season. Garciaparra showed up in 1997 with a 6.4 WAR season.
From 1997 to 2000, Garciaparra and A-Rod had about a five-win advantage over Jeter. Garciaparra was hurt and missed most of the 2001 season, then had two more good years before injuries limited him over his final six seasons. He fell out of the conversation. When A-Rod joined the Yankees in 2004 and moved over to third base, the terrific trio of shortstops was no more. Only Jeter remained.
That was one of the keys to Jeter’s greatness. He showed up year after year after year. From 1996 to 2012, he averaged 151 games played and nearly 700 plate appearances for 17 seasons.
His average season during this stretch looked like this: .313/.382/.448, 110 R, 194 H, 15 HR, 73 RBI, 20 SB. Based on the offensive value he accumulated in his career, Jeter would be a top-five shortstop.
He has the accolades also. He was the AL Rookie of the Year in 1996. He was an all-star 14 times. He never won an MVP award but finished in the top 10 eight times.
He also played a full season of postseason games (158 games, 734 plate appearances) and hit slightly better in the big games than he hit during the regular season. He went to the World Series seven times and won five rings.
The thing that pulls him down is defense, which is a touchy subject for many. His fans will point out that Jeter won five Gold Glove Awards. Others will argue that they were undeserved.
He could make spectacular plays, and smart baseball plays. He also had trouble going to his left, which limited his range, according to the defensive metrics.
Of all the 25 players on this list of the greatest shortstops of all-time, only Derek Jeter had a negative value on defense (per Fangraphs). Because defense is traditionally harder to measure than offense, I’m sure plenty of people will argue he should be higher on this list than some of the guys above him.
He ranks sixth in Fangraphs WAR and tenth in Baseball-Reference WAR. Jay Jaffe’s JAW system has him 12th. By Wins Above Average, he’s 17th. I had him in the mix with Barry Larkin and Robin Yount before finally deciding to put him above them on the list here at eighth.