Great SoxandPhils lede

One of my pleasures this offseason will be watching the Yankees overpay for the overrated Derek Jeter. I got my first treat today with a great SoxandPhils lede to an ESPN story about how much the Yankees will dump on their decrepit shortstop:

Derek Jeter is going to be paid Ryan Howard money for putting up Marco Scutaro numbers.

They're talking three years, $15 million to 20 million per season, for the Yankees captain.

"Jeter's numbers are exactly the same as Marco Scutaro's," one of the sources said. "He's gonna get paid a lot more than Scutaro, of course."
[...]
Scutaro, on the other hand, is entering the walk year of a two-year deal that will pay him $5 million for 2011, with a $6 million club option for 2012. His 2010 stats were remarkably similar to Jeter's. Scutaro batted .275 to Jeter's .270, hit 11 home runs to Jeter's 10, drove in 56 runs to Jeter's 67. He was outscored by Jeter, 111-92, but struck out just 71 times to Jeter's 106, and grounded into nine fewer double plays (13-22).

In fact, Jeter's numbers are not that much different from those of Ian Desmond, the Washington Nationals second-year shortstop who hit .269 with 10 home runs and 65 RBIs and plays for the major league minimum salary of just over $400,000 a year.

I can't wait. I only hope it's a long, protracted negotiation that leaves plenty of bad feelings when the Yankees have to bench their $20 million shortstop in a year or two.