The Real Reason Hal Gave Jeter More Money

Via a Jon Heyman report from Wednesday:

"The intrerest in Drew is interesting in that Derek Jeter, the Yankes' iconic shortstop, has already signed back for $12 million. Steinbrenner, who did that deal, has already talked to Jeter to warn him that they might seek a starting shortstop due to Jeter's status as a player returning from a severe ankle injury and missed most of last year. Jeter hasn't spoken publicly since signing, but he's said to understand the Yankees' shortstop interest after speaking with Steinbrenner."

So it looks like it wasn't just paying Jeter because he's Jeter, but rather paying him as a way to appease him while the team looks for better shortstop options.  Either way it was still overbidding against themselves when they didn't have to, but if that was Hal's plan then that makes the decision look a little better than it did 2 weeks ago.  The battle in the media would be even uglier if it revolved around Jeter's money and his playing time.  It looks like Hal wanted to get ahead of that by basically paying Jeter to keep his and his agent's mouth shut so the team could look for a better present and future option without issue.  Between this information and the news on a possible Brendan Ryan return, it looks like Jeter could be spending a lot of time at DH in 2014.