Derek Jeter joins Fox team as MLB studio analyst
Derek Jeter looks on at a news conference for the re-signing of Aaron Judge at Yankee Stadium, Wednesday, Dec. 21, 2022. Credit: Corey Sipkin
Derek Jeter is joining Fox’s baseball coverage team as a studio analyst, the network announced during its Super Bowl pregame show on Sunday.
Jeter appeared on a set in Arizona with Michael Strahan and former Yankees teammate Alex Rodriguez at about 3:45 p.m. to mark the occasion.
The former Yankees captain, who retired after the 2014 season, left the Marlins last February after 4 ½ years as their CEO.
When Jeter was introduced, Strahan, a former Giant, said, “El Capitan, baby!”
And Rodriguez said, “I never thought in my wildest dreams that we’d be reunited, but here we are. Derek to the Fox family.”
The stormy relationship between Rodriguez and Jeter was a centerpiece of ESPN’s documentary series, “The Captain,” that aired last summer.
Asked for a Super Bowl pick, Jeter said, “Look, it’s kind of hard for me to ever pick against Pat [Mahomes] because we played against his dad [a former Mets pitcher]. So I’m hoping for a good game. I’m trying to be politically correct here.”
David Ortiz, a former Red Sox nemesis of Jeter’s Yankees, also is a Fox analyst.
Jeter said that when he visited the Fox set during the 2022 World Series in Philadelphia, “Ortiz kept showing me his World Series rings. I figured I’d just join the team now so we can humble him a little bit.” Ortiz has three World Series rings; Jeter has five.
Neil Best first worked at Newsday in 1982, returned in 1985 after a detour to Alaska and has been here since, specializing in high schools, college basketball, the NFL and most recently sports media and business.
