A-Rod, Joba, Jeter top 'overrated' poll

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Not surprisingly, Alex Rodriguez and Joba Chamberlain had fun with the poll.

Equally unsurprising, Derek Jeter wanted nothing to do with it, and manager Joe Girardi was quick to defend his players.

Tuesday Sports Illustrated released the results of its annual poll in which 185 major leaguers were asked to respond to this question: "Who is the most overrated player in baseball?"

Yankees were ranked 1-2-3, led by A-Rod (18 percent), Chamberlain (12 percent) and Jeter (seven percent). Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth and Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon were both at four percent.

"Man, I guess I'm disappointed that I'm not No. 1," Chamberlain said.

He was last year.

This was the third straight year a Yankee stood atop the poll. Jeter "won" in 2009, followed by Chamberlain last year and A-Rod this year.

The latter was Chamberlain's biggest source of amusement.

"I lost," Chamberlain proclaimed for the rest of the clubhouse to hear. "I got beat out. No. 2, though . . . I guess I passed the torch on to Alex."

Upon seeing Rodriguez enter the clubhouse, Chamberlain, surrounded by reporters, yelled at the third baseman.

"You're next Al, you're next!"

Rodriguez smiled for almost the entire time he spent talking about the anonymous poll.

"I've been on this list before," A-Rod said before pausing and taking note that three-fifths of the list was comprised of Yankees. "So it's three Yankees? So I'll see you guys next summer again."

Rodriguez also poked fun at his past reasons for making headlines.

"I'm sure I'll be on it next summer so I'll try to come up with some better material for you guys," he said. "But I will say this. If this is the only thing we're talking about, fellas, we're doing good."

Jeter was not close to being amused.

"We're doing this again?" he said. "I have no comment on anonymous polls. I've never understood those anonymous polls."

He added: "It's the same thing they do every year, right? I'm focused on more positive things. How about that? There's your quote."

Discussing his chase of 3,000 hits later on, Jeter amended that.

"Consistency is underrated," he said, putting emphasis on "underrated." "That's the quote."

Girardi wasn't as short as Jeter.

"People are going to vote the way they're going to vote but, I have to tell you, I like my guys," Girardi said. "These guys have had success, I've won a World Series with these guys, so I like them."

Does money, especially in the case of Jeter and A-Rod, play a roll in the way some players vote?

"I think money a lot of times can play a part in how people look at people," Girardi said.

Even though the poll came from fellow players, Chamberlain said he "couldn't care less as long as I'm still getting outs.

"My bills are still paid and I still have a job," he said.

Said A-Rod of it being a player vote: "I don't really think anything of it. My focus is on this team and on the game and working on my craft each and every day . . . I think it will be like that the rest of my career. I think it's pretty amusing."