Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Hyde: Jeter needs to market himself
JUPITER — You come in Year 3 for some direction from Derek Jeter, some update, any words with impact from the primary voice of this difficult Miami Marlins rebuild. But the CEO of tomorrow wasn’t revealing any such deep thoughts Monday.
This, as usual, was not one of those Plato-to-Socrates news conferences from the mount.
No, Jeter was asked about his expectations for the 2020 Marlins and he delivered clipped phrases like, “We need to make progress” and, “We need to turn the corner.” He said, “Time will tell.” He said that this forever-young Marlins team needed to get the veterans added to it this offseason.
“Don’t underestimate the value of veteran players,’’ he said. “Don’t ever underestimate that.”
Yes, it’s Year 3 of this rebuild, and, well, I still don’t know what to make of the Derek Jeter Experience. We know as little about him now as ever. That’s by design, of course. That’s how it was all his years in New York, though he navigated fame well and offered his heart and soul for 162 games a year at shortstop.
Now he sits behind a door, thinking, plotting, building youth in this franchise and waiting like all of us for the kids to bloom this year … or next year … or possibly not at all. You’ve been through this before as a Marlins fan. Several times.
But Jeter? He’s never been through anything like this, much less led it. We don’t know if he’s happy as The Boss of this struggling franchise or if happiness is beyond the point. We don’t know what drives him, who inspires him, what makes him laugh or keeps him up at night.
The most marketable Marlin isn’t marketing himself, either. He talked for 15 minutes in his annual state-of-the-spring address Mon
day before the questions ran out. No one even asked about his Hall of Fame induction this summer. Should we have? He played 17 postseasons, was a 14-time All-Star and won five World Series.
But imagine: Dan Marino buys the Arizona Cardinals. He runs the team. Everyone knows he was a generational talent, the defining player of the Miami Dolphins, a South Florida sports icon and Hall of Fame quarterback.
Should Cardinals fans care he is Dan Marino?
This is where we are in some form with Jeter. His previous feats are noteworthy. But they don’t mean much in this new role.
Even Jeter doesn’t rely on the past or introduce them in in discussion. It’s all about how to lift this franchise back to relevance from his front-office seat.
“This organization is in a lot better shape than when we took over,” he said. “We should be a lot better this year than we were last year. I’ve always preached competition. We have an organization that is layered with talent. Guys are going to start pushing, and that’s a good thing.”
That’s about as deep as it got Monday, maybe as deep as he ever will. Really, the perfect answer by Jeter — the one that revealed the most about him — came when he was asked about the Houston Astros’ signstealing scandal. This is a hanging curveball for players across baseball, a subject they all have a hard opinion on.
Jeter, however, has a different take. The real issue, he feels, isn’t the Astros at this point. It’s the continued discussion.
“It’s like a slow drip of responses coming out from everyone,’’ he said. “You hope at some point people can just move on. But, look, it’s unfortunate. It’s a black eye for the sport.”
That’s a glimpse into Jeter, the public persona. Confronted with cheating behavior that’s stained the game, he just wishes everyone would quit talking about it and play ball. He can talk eloquently and emotionally, as he has on occasion. He just prefers to talk otherwise in a public forum.
“It takes time for most players to adjust when they get to the major leagues, but still, wins and losses are important,’’ he said. “That’s how organizations are judged. Bottom line: I could sit here and talk about what we’re building in the minorleague system all I want, but fans especially are going to say ‘Well, how many games did you win?’ There are steps along the way.”
Jeter gets that, of course. Winning is what matters. And one of the great winners as a player isn’t sure when this team he’s building will win. Nor are we how to view this experience starting Year 3.