Risking Jeter outweighs reward for Yanks

On May 11, 2000, Derek Jeter strained an abdominal muscle in his left side, in a home game against Tampa Bay. The Yankees carried Jeter as an active player for seven days, hoping that he would heal, before finally surrendering and putting Jeter on the disabled list May 19.

The Yankees competed with a 24-man roster for a week, in other words, because they valued Jeter so much that his quick return would have justified playing shorthanded.

Tuesday, the Yankees deliberated for . . . a few hours, showing Jeter the respect he deserved by convening with him and team doctor Christopher Ahmad, before overruling their shortstop and placing him on the disabled list before Tuesday night's Yankee Stadium contest against the Rangers.

The Jeter math has changed, and we're not talking about his postponed quest for 3,000 career hits. He might not acknowledge it -- like many ultra-accomplished athletes, he's not about to concede any sort of decline -- but the Yankees' captain is no longer worth the wait.

"The risk is, to me, that he tries to go after 6 or 7 days. Then he reinjures it," Joe Girardi said before the Yankees made the move official. "Then you're looking at two or three weeks."

What Girardi can't acknowledge, being Jeter's manager, is that the potential reward -- a scenario in which Jeter returns in a week and suffers no setbacks -- doesn't justify the risk of going at it with 24 players. Especially since the Yankees have a National League road trip through Chicago and Cincinnati coming up.

"I don't like not to play, whether I'm going for 3,000 hits or 100 hits," Jeter said. "I'd rather be out there playing."

SEE PHOTOSDerek Jeter timeline

His endurance is endearing. Yet the Yankees have to know that, by sidelining Jeter -- whose 2011 is worse than his 2010, which served as the worst season of his career -- and starting Eduardo Nuñez in his place, they might even enjoy a short-term upgrade at shortstop. Nuñez delivered a second-inning RBI single, a crisp line drive to leftfield, as part of a six-run frame.

When I asked Girardi how much a player's performance factored into the disabled-list decision, wondering whether they'd be more inclined to keep Jeter active if he were hitting .330 rather than .260, the Yankees' manager obfuscated.

"He's our leadoff hitter," Girardi said. "He's our everyday shortstop. He does have value. I don't necessarily look at if he's hitting .260 or .330. What you do is, you jeopardize losing a player for three or four weeks as opposed to 15 days."

Uh huh. Can't expect Girardi to publicly diss the sensitive team captain with his words. The action proved sufficient.

"We play a man short all of the time," Jeter noted, and that's true. The Yankees are currently doing so with Russell Martin, out again with a bad lower back, because they value Martin enough to suffer through a few more days (they hope) with Francisco Cervelli behind the plate.

Jeter's situation is, simply, different. Different injury, different value, different replacement (no, the Yankees clearly still don't feel that comfortable about promoting young catchers Jesus Montero or Austin Romine).

"I'm disappointed," Jeter said, referencing his 3,000th hit, "because I know a lot of people were looking forward to the opportunity to see it."

He'll get there eventually, perhaps even July 1-3 against the Mets at Citi Field, of all foes and places. When it happens, the Yankees will celebrate along with him.

They're not going to hold up their higher 2011 aspirations to get to that round number, however. And right now, those aspirations are best achieved with Jeter not on their roster.