In 1992, the Houston Astros selected Phil Nevin first overall in the draft. Astros area scout Hal Newhouser tried to argue he could sign Michigan high school shortstop Derek Jeter for less than his projected bonus demands. According to Buster Olney in The Last Night of the Yankees Dynasty, it was only 50,000 dollars that caused the Astros to draft Nevin and Newhouser resigned because of it.
Jeter, 35, is probably headed to the Hall of Fame, especially after winning another Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award this week and a fourth World Series ring this month. Now, it's debatable whether Jeter deserved those Gold Gloves and whether he deserves a ticket to Cooperstown. That's not what I want to discuss today.
Let's run a thought experiment. What if Jeter had been picked by the Astros? Does Houston win any of those series in the late '90s? Does Jeter get as much notoriety? Does he win any Gold Gloves? Any World Series? Does he still get into the Hall without playing in the New York media market?
Discuss amongst yourselves...
0 recs | 5 comments
Jeter does not get the notoriety at all.
I know some of you hate batting stance guy but I think he nails the picture above.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sPakL5On3Y skip to 6:35
Timothy De Block - November 13, 2009
I don’t think there is any serious debate about Jeter getting into the Hall of Fame. Even if he is sub par defensively as a shortstop, he still is one of the 2 or 3 greatest shortstops of all time based on his offense accomplishments at the position. (Honus Wagner is the only HOF shortstop with a higher OPS+) Jeter’s gold glove this season may be more deserved than in the past, since his UZR this season was above average (+8). Jeter’s defense over most of his career has been at best average, and at times, bad.
I think Jeter would have been less famous if he played in Houston, but I think he would still be Hall of Fame bound if the Astros played him at shortstop. His offensive supremacy at the position would be strong enough. The combination of Bagwell, Biggio, and Jeter on the same infield is a breathtaking thought, and most likely Jeter’s addition to the trio also would have enhanced the fame for Biggio-Bagwell. I think it is possible that Jeter could have been enough to get the Astros a World Series appearance in the late 90’s, but that is really speculative, since we never know how thinks play out if key facts are changed.
An interesting question in my mind is whether the Astros would have kept Jeter at shortstop or perhaps made him a CFer. We know that the Astros considered moving Biggio to CF from catcher, before settling on 2d base as his next position. I sometimes wonder if the Astros would have looked at Jeter’s offense and decided that he is a really an outfielder.
Would Jeter have stayed attached to the Astros throughout his career, like Biggio and Bagwell did? Who knows? But he seems like the type of player who could have bonded with Biggio and Bagwell and stayed in Houston in order to continue playing with them.
clack - November 13, 2009
Awesome…I’m glad my idea could generate such discussion!
Thanks for the very thoughtful analysis clack. I agree that Jeter goes into the HOF pretty much wherever he plays, but I wonder if he would suffer through the same problems Biggio had (taking 10 years for the public to catch up with how good he was). Remember those Bill James articles about Bidge? Could you see ones about Bidge AND Jeter?
I don’t think he wins the gold gloves anywhere else, b/c I think those were partially a product of the WS appearances. He became a superstar when he was relatively young (HS in ‘92, WS in ’96), and I’m sure that affected his public perception
David Coleman - November 13, 2009
I love Biggio as much as anyone, but Jeter is a step above him offensively, especially in the batting average-focused eyes of the public. Part of the reason Biggio didn’t get much notice until later in his career is that he only posted a handful of seasons with a batting average over .300. Jeter, on the other hand, almost always bats over .300 and only in a few seasons has he not.
If anything, Jeter would have taken some of the limelight that Biggio eventually received, especially if he stuck at shortstop.
It’s all idle speculation about the past though. In the present, I’m more annoyed that Purpura traded off Zobrist go a few years ago.
OremLK - November 14, 2009
This is the Astros
Jeter would have been traded for a washed up first baseman and two pitching prospects.
Caradoc - November 14, 2009
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