Super Sexy Sports - What is your opinion about Sports Illustrated ranking Derek Jeter the most overrated player?

What is your opinion about Sports Illustrated ranking Derek Jeter the most overrated player?

Obviously they has no clue if you ask me.

Public Comments

He is!
See, Derek Jeter isn't an overrated batter, because he is one of the best clutch performers and overall hitters the Major Leagues has ever seen, but defensively he is a mediocre player. Don't get me wrong, I love Jeter and everything he does, but his ability to play shortstop isn't the greatest, but everyone thinks he's an amazing defensive player. He isn't that bad, but he isn't that great either. Overall, he's still an awesome player, but I don't think Sports Illustrated is being too rough by ranking him the most overrated.
He's not the most overrated! His fielding isn't the best though and I think that's what most people overlook. But he is a great player AND leader, and is NOT the most overrated. I think ESPN plays a part in this, because of the bias towards the east coast, which makes them talk about him more, thus making SI think he is overrated. But that is ridiculous, and NOT true!
Hah. I don't care what anyone else says. I worship the ground that man walks on. As do most other Yankees fans.
I agree with you. How can a guy with a .317 lifetime batting average with 10 division titles, 6 American League Pennants and 4 World Series Championships under his belt be considered overrated? This is the same guy who will eventually join the 3000 hit club before his career is over. A first ballot hall of famer to be sure. People write that crap just to start controversy and sell copy. I was in the newspaper business for years and that's the gold rule of journalism. Most people think just because it's in print, it must be true! That always made me laugh! Remember, it's not easy to play in the Big Apple. Many a great talent has failed in New York. Jeter is popular because he's able to deal with the pressure and produce, money not withstanding.
Jeter is not an overrated player, he just gets a lot of media attention because he's in New York.
He's not overrated. I think someone at Sports Illustrated is just very jealous and has a need to protect his manhood by lashing out at someone that knows what the hell they are doing :) Sorry I couldn't resist, please forgive me :)
To call Derek Jeter the most overrated player is just ridiculous. Even as a Yankee fan, I will admit that sometimes Jeter is made up to be better than he actually is. But MOST overrated player?? Give me a break! Career .316 BA, 2430 Hits, 4 World Series rings! I need to read this article to see how they backed this up. And the best part is, since SI said it, everyone is now going to run around saying how overrated Jeter is. Makes me laugh lol.
I am a die hard Red Sox fan, but I am willing to admit that Jeter is a great player. He is a team leader and is one of the most clutch players in baseball. If the Sox were to get any Yankee player I would want it to be Jeter, he is a classy guy who shows integrity, grit and a genuine love of the game. Any team would be fortunate to have such a team guy!
I disagree. While I am certainly not a Yankees fan (although I don't consider myself one, some people might call me a "Yankees hater" ) I have always loved the way Jeter plays the game. Yes, it is true that he is not the best defensive shortstop in the game - he probably has never really been that. And there certainly are better hitters out there. But, when you put the combination of being an above average player defensively at a difficult position along with his very good skills at the plate, you come up with a helluva ballplayer. Would he get as much exposure if he played in Kansas City, or Milwaukee or Minnesota or Pittsburgh? Probably not. Yankees players often get put up on a higher pedestal then others, but I don't think that you can use that as a reason to automatically say they are over rated. And despite the fact that ESPN (and as a result, most of the rest of the national media) tedn to slant their coverage in favor of the Yankees, it seems that nobody has ever tried to portray Jeter as the best player in the game, or even the best shortstop. I think , too, that it is easy to look at statistics, compare them to those of other players, and use them as the sole basis for judging a player. This is fine as a start, but there are too many things that statistics don't take into account. Jeter brings a lot of intangibles to the team - leadership, baseball smarts, work ethic - that many of today's "superstars" lack. I would say that, even though he probably has never even been the best player on the Yankees, he was the heart of the World Series Champion teams, and is still the heart of them. Maybe it's just a difference in what I think "over rated" means.
SI will take any shot at a Yankee they can. The guy has more clutch hits and plays then any other active player.
I am a Mets fan and I'm not a Jeter fan. Still, this is completely BS. Over a career, I would choose to build a team around him rather then any other player in baseball. He hits for average, and is a beast in the clutch. How about choosing Dunn or Beltran?
SI likes to take shots at the NY teams. Derek isn't over-rated. I'm a Mets' fan, and if there's one Yankee I would love to see wear the Mets uniform, its Derek. If you want to do a story on over-rated, how about doing a story on Philadelpia and/or Boston.
Jeter was not ranked the most overrated player. He was ranked one of the most OVERPAID players. There is quite a difference between the two. The article that everyone is talking about was based on numbers. Every MLB player these days is judged by their numbers. So it is easy to see why SI ranked the Yankee captain up there. He is not producing the numbers this year that he has in the past and he is making nearly $20 mil. I think Jeter is a great ball player, a great leader and (as many people have stated) one of the better clutch performers of all time. But I would be pretty displeased if my team were paying him $20 million this year....
i like jeter. He's a good player! I don't think overrated is the right word.. I mean he gets a lot of attention and a lot of people know the name "Derek Jeter" but i think he's rated just fine. Although, he's not neccessarily known for his defense i think he has great leadership and hits well. i agree with fozzy ^^
As a red sox fan, saying this. He's not overrated, however Youkilis is not overrated either but hes underpaid. I kinda think Jeter is a little overpaid.
In this case I believe Sports Illustrated has it right. At this point in the season Jeter is 276-4-32 with an OBP of .333. His OBP is 7th of the 8 starting position players on the Yankees. He is very average, at best, as a defensive shortstop and far behind the ability of A-Rod if he were the shortstop. Jose Reyes, Hanley Ramirez, and Rollins are all better players than Jeter with Ramirez at $439k per year, Reyes at $4.3m per year, and Rollins at $8m per year. Add all three of these great shortstops payroll together and you have $12.7m compared to Jeter at $21.6m. Fans have a tendency to rank Jeter's ability based on his popularity and media exposure and don't really take a hard look at his baseline abilities, with the exception of being a good contact hitter, which are average for a MLB shortstop. In my book he is definitely overrated, maybe not the most overrated player but nevertheless overrated. EDIT: A player can be overrated and still be a good player. At this point in his career Jeter would probably still receive the most fan votes as the best shortstop in the game today when clearly there are others better offensively and defensively. His abilities are overrated because of his name recognition and popularity with fans.
It was possibly one of the most asinine articles they have ever written. Just two years ago they said he got robbed of the MVP award from Morneau. In what way is a lifetime .316 hitter, .309 post season hitter, (8) time all-star, (3) time gold glove winner, (6) time 200+ hits, 1996 ROY, and 2000 World Series MVP overrated? Do I also need to mention he's been to the post season every single year of his career has over 2,400 hits, 4 rings, and 6 world series appearances? People need to stop comparing a guy in his "14th" season to players like Jimmy Rollins, Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes, and Troy Tulowitzki who barely have 14 seasons combined between them. These are incredible numbers for any short stop to have over a career be it Jeter or any one else. I can bet that Rollins, Ramirez, Reyes, and Tulowitzki would take Jeter's career numbers in a heart beat. Odds are they won't be around playing this good in 14 years, if at all.
I understand how you feel, but this is not entirely accurate. SI did not rank Jeter; according to the article, a poll was taken of all major league players and Jeter was voted by 10% of the players as the "most overrated" (which was the highest percentage, with Arod and JD Drew being tied for 2nd with 7%). So, it was the players as a group who "ranked" Jeter. Interestingly, another poll of major leaguers was taken in the previous issue of SI asking who they would want to build a franchise around, and Arod and Jeter were voted #1 and #2 (you'd think these guys would make up their mind already). But in all fairness (as Frizzer pointed out), being overrated does not mean the player is not great. No one can argue that Jeter is a great player, a consumate winner (the active player with the highest winning percentage) and (barring injury) a first ballot hall-of-famer. Maybe the correct term should not be overrated, but "overexposed". Jeter is the face of the Yankees and argubly all of baseball, yet most would not consider him the best player on the planet (or even his own team), so, maybe that makes him "overrated". But, as far as Jeter is concerned, I'm sure he couldn't care less, and neither should we.
It was jealous players casting votes.
I will be unpopular with some for saying this, but I agree with SI and have been saying that for years. Jeter is a good solid player but he gets over-hyped by the New York media.
NB: I was asked by an individual (not Scooter) to reply to this specific question. Originally I had bypassed it, but, okay. Jeter is HIGHLY overrated. This is not to say he is not a very good player; he is. He has to date put up a Hall-bound career and has earned every plaudit and honor that has been bestowed him. He really should not be playing shortstop by now, and at 34 he's starting to show his age at the plate. This isn't 1999 Derek any longer, or even 2006 Derek. For all that, No, he is not the MOST overrated player. Every season there is a kid or two who shows great promise and delivers little. That's not what Jeter does. But he does deliver a good bit less than what New York expects of him -- but New York just decides, subconsciously, to be myopic of him and his skills and his performance. Jeter is raved as being nigh-infallible, and he certainly is not that. Overrated? Yes. MOST overrated? Not quite, No. The good part? Jeter is overrated even at being overrated.