Derek Jeter's retirement tour has been well-earned. But it has also underscored the fact that Jeter overstayed his welcome in baseball.
Jeter just stopped an 0-for-28 skid. Even before that, it was a disastrous season for the Captain. Neither his on-base percentage (.298) nor his slugging percentage (.297) even tops .300, giving him a dismal .595 OPS, which we would say is positively Punto-esque if that wasn't an insult to Nick Punto (.646 career OPS).
That slugging percentage of .297 ranks dead last among 150 qualified hitters in MLB this season, as Jon Heyman noted in a piece criticizing Yankees manager Joe Girardi for continuing to play Jeter and bat him second in the order despite his clearly diminishing skills.
In the field, he's made only 10 errors. But Jeter's range factor per nine innings, which measures the total number of putouts and assists a player records, is last in MLB.
A player who helped the Yankees excel in the postseason so many times hindered their chances in his final one. Sentiment got in the way of sense and led to a sad final season in a great career.
RandBall: startribune.com/randball
