Jeter moving on after rough offseason

TAMPA, Fla. - Derek Jeter says he's moved on.

Moved on from his career-worst season at the plate, from the speculation - which won't end anytime soon - regarding an eventual position change, and especially from the contract negotiations that turned surprisingly public and acrimonious.

"It's over," Jeter said of the latter late yesterday morning after hitting and taking ground balls at the Yankees' minor-league complex.

At the news conference in December announcing his new three-year contract, Jeter didn't hide his anger regarding the nature of the talks, but he insisted Monday that he's past it.

"It's done with," he said. "You can't change the past."

He later said: "There's no reason to think about it. You have to remember, my No. 1 goal was always to play here, and that's where I am. So really, I don't have any page that I need to turn."

Nevertheless, Jeter hopes to do that with 2010, a season in which he hit .270 with 10 homers and 67 RBIs. He did score 111 runs, but his on-base percentage was only .340. He hit .330 in April but his production steadily declined, and his average went as low as .260 Sept. 10.

SEE PHOTOSWho are the 10 greatest Yankees?

"You have to be able to put previous seasons behind you and focus on the one coming up," Jeter said.

Leaning leisurely against a fence and sounding relaxed, Jeter, who turns 37 on June 26, spoke to three reporters after his workout. He said he didn't change his offseason routine, working out at the end of November and showing up at the complex for on-field drills in mid-January. The one change was having hitting coach Kevin Long come in two weeks ago for three days of work.

Jeter did finish strong, hitting .276 in September/October with a .369 OBP, his highest OBP of any month. In his final 17 games, he had a .347 batting average and .435 OBP. Jeter and Long started working in late August on Jeter's stride, work that continued two weeks ago.

"Basically what we did is we were just picking up where we left off the last month of last season," Jeter said. "The changes that we made at the end of August, usually you don't make those changes in the middle of the season . . . because it takes a long time to get comfortable with it. So we were just trying to continue that."

As for the still-hot topic of how long he will stay at shortstop, it's not something he's worried about.

"I don't think about it," he said. "I have a job to do. My job isn't to try to tell the future. I wish I could, but I can't. I'm not a fortune teller; I don't have a crystal ball at the house. My job is to do what my job is, and that's to play shortstop."

Those flames were fanned two weeks ago by general manager Brian Cashman, whose answer to a hypothetical question from a fan at a breakfast was taken out of context. A mini-firestorm ensued.

"I've been here long enough to not really pay attention to everything," Jeter said with a smile.

The shortstop said "worry" is too strong a word to use in talking about the hole in the rotation created by Andy Pettitte's retirement, but he acknowledged "certain guys" will have to "step up."

Regardless, he said he is pleased with his longtime teammate's decision.

"I'm happy that he came to a decision that he's comfortable with," Jeter said. "I know how close Andy is with his family. His family is No. 1 for him. Now he gets that opportunity to watch his kids participate in a lot of things and be around for them. Even when he was playing, any opportunity he had to go back home, he went back home."