Will Jeter break Rose's Hit Record ??

[Giant Obsession]

I have been following this closely for the past 2 years projection wise.

First off, let me state Derek Jeter is a SPECIAL player, the likes of which comes along very seldom in all of baseball.  Unlike football with its juiced up offenses and give up defenses, the game remains largely unchanged except for the emphasis on relief pitching and the DH in the past 40 years.  Records are achieved on mostly level playing field for the most part.

Given continued good health and minimal decline in his skills (which I realize is a HUGE given), he has a good shot.

Standing at 3304 hits right now and assuming he gets 200 hits next year (the last year of this contract), he will stand in 6th place, just a few hits behind Tris Speaker's 3514.  With a new 2 year contract in hand and 180 hits each of those 2 seasons he will have reached roughly 100 hits behind Hank Aaron for 3rd place, passing Speaker and Musial in the process.

At that point he will be 41.  One more year of 160 hits or so and he will be solidly in 3rd place, but basically looking at almost 2 more full seasons to pass Cobb at 4189 for 2nd place.  And then he will be 44, looking at the next season when around 100 hits will bypass Rose.

I can not imagine he will still be playing the field for more than 50-60 games once he passes 41, he will be used mostly as a DH.

SO MY QUESTIONS ARE......1. Is his hidden ego driven enough to want and pass Rose ?  2. Would he stay when most of his play will be at DH after the next couple of years ?  3. How will the Yankees handle  his contract...or do they ?

MY ANSWERS..........1. Yes, this would be an achievement that will last the ages, who wouldn't take a shot given the assumption Jeter has retained most of his hitting skills (see Arod for reverse example) and relative good health.  He is a baseball player, born for this task.    2. Yes...most of his career has been while playing an exemplary shortstop so nothing to be ashamed of in that respect.  He did not build a whole career off of sitting on the bench and going to the batters box 4-5 times per game every night.  3.   As long as his salary demands are reasonable the Yankees HAVE TO, they could never let him walk l'est be forever thought of as baseball scrooges.  The Yankees are TRADITION....the flagship of baseball...and the money is really secondary to the continued microscopic exposure they receive on a daly basis, which is part of what makes them so valuable.

The only fly in the ointment I see is the sad fact that I believe this franchise is headed for a downward turn in field performance.  Minor league system is threadbare thin.  Rapidly aging performers (who also fall  into a category of underperformers) like Arod, Granderson, and I fear Tex...along with a front office edict of no more wild spending and luxury tax bites have us on a slowly downward spiral.  I do not see Jeter sticking around and playing on a version of the 1982-1994 Yankees.