Derek Jeter's words, and HGH testing for minor leaguers

Here's Erik Boland's write-up of Derek Jeter's news conference.

My thoughts? Why, thank you for asking! No big surprises, although Jeter did reveal that his agent, Casey Close, called the Yankees over the winter to test the contract-extension waters and was quickly shot down.

What I'm going to write for my column - and please, have mercy on me and don't tell the competition - is that this is exactly how Jeter would run a team. And he says he wants to be an owner someday.

You don't get paid for what you did. You get paid for what your employers think you're going to do. Will Jeter receive a bonus because of who he is and what he means? Yes. But it won't be outrageous, and Jeter's 2010 performance will absolutely play a role in the final figure.

Really, though, it's hard to envision a scenario that doesn't feature Jeter as the starting shortstop for the 2011 Yankees.

--Michael S. Schmidt of the New York Times reports that Major League Baseball will start issuing blood tests to minor leaguers for HGH. As the story points out, the minor leaguers don't have the protection of being in the union.

I like the quote in this story from Charles E. Yesalis, who has been on the front lines of the illegal performance-enhancing drug issue: "They have this test for some time and they only caught one guy. I wouldn’t bet my life on that test.”

UPDATE, 2:59 p.m.: Following the Yankees' first full-squad workout today, Brian Cashman addressed the many questions about Jeter. Cashman can be rather patient, but by the end of his nine minutes and 48 seconds with writers and radio folk, you could tell he had enough of the subject matter.

"There's no benefit for me to talk about it," he said. "I can’t speculate. It makes no sense to do so. It’s probably dangerous to do so."

As Cashman said, there are so many factors that need to play out: What kind of 2010 season will Jeter have? What kind of 2010 season will the Yankees have? What will the national economy look like in November? Will another team have an apparent need for a shortstop? Will the Yankees have another obvious candidate to replace Jeter?

We're just going to have to wait this one out.