Girardi: Jeter 'will be everyday player again'

Just a day after GM Brian Cashman said there was no specific date for Derek Jeter's return to the field, manager Joe Girardi said Wednesday that he expects the Captain to resume full-time duty soon.

"Our expectations are that he will be an everyday player again," Girardi said about his shortstop who is eligible to come off the disabled list Saturday.  "It's just when that we are concerned about. How long it takes for him to get through what he needs to get through to be that everyday player."

Jeter — who had his broken ankle surgically-repaired in October — was hoping to be ready by Opening Day but spent Monday at the New York Yankees training facility in Tampa.

Asked if he thought his shortstop would be ready for action by Saturday, Cashman was pessimistic.

"That ain't happening," he bluntly said. "He's not taking ground balls or batting. He's just doing physical therapy."

Jeter spent Wednesday long-tossing and doing strength exercises at the Tampa facility.  The 38-year-old's rehab was slowed by soreness after playing shortstop in an exhibition game on March 23.

A frustrated-sounding Jeter said last week he wasn't putting any "dates" on his return. And, for now,  it looks like a wait-and-see attitude from the Yankees too.

Cashman, Girardi: Jeter's injury is a big deal

Derek Jeter said his left ankle was well enough for him to play shortstop Friday night — and told Yankees manager Joe Girardi as much.  But he still found himself in the designated hitter slot for a second straight game.

After aggravating the bone bruise Wednesday, while running out a grounder in Boston, Jeter insisted the   injury was "no big deal." The Captain was so insistent he repeated it about half a dozen times to reporters even after he was escorted off the field by Girardi and the team trainer.

Jeter backed up his own diagnosis by getting two more hits last night against the Tampa Bay Rays, but Girardi and general manager Brian Cashman are casting a far darker shadow on Jeter's condition.  Both suggested that their star player's injury could nag him for the rest of the season.

"He's banged up, but he's playing through it," said Cashman before Friday night's game.  "We want him to get better, but it's one of those things it's hard to get better (while you're playing).  I think we're going to have to help him manage it to the degree that we can."

"We have to help someone manage through it, when it's someone who doesn't want help," he added.

Jeter batted lead-off last night and went 2-for-4 with a run — passing Willy Mays for 10th on the all-time hit list — but the hitch in his giddy-up still looked like it could linger the rest of the season.

"I haven't heard the doctor say that, but in my mind, that's what I believe.  It could take a while," said Girardi.  "Could it get better as time goes on?  Sure. But a lot of it probably depends on how he lands on it or lunges.  It could take a while."

Convincing the hobbled Jeter to trade in his shortstop position for the DH spot is already hard enough for his handlers — especially in the midst of a September playoff run — and the GM and manager both know it will take a team effort to keep him from sitting out any games.

"If we want to help Derek Jeter, we have to win as many games as possible, so we can rest him," Cashman said.  "But Derek Jeter would tell you, 'If you want to help me, shut the blank up, let me play, write my name in the lineup and let me get my hits and help us win."

Jeter's fill-in at shortstop, Eduardo Nunez, has played admirably, but still made a crucial error in last night's 6-4 loss.  He misplayed a routine grounder that led to a Rays' insurance run in the ninth inning.  Girardi can only wait and grind his teeth.

"You got to manage the frustration," he said.  "You don't want that one [Nunez's error] to snowball."

Girardi said he would check with the 38-year old Jeter on a daily basis and decide if the injury is really "not an issue."

"I can look him in the eyes and I can usually tell," he said.

While Jeter is itching to get back on the field, he said he won't let his own stubbornness overrule reason — or his bosses.

"I always want to play," he said.  "But I'm going to do what they tell me to do."

"I've told [Girardi] I could play shortstop when he first took me out of shortstop.  Nothing has changed, really," said Jeter.  "I've always said if you're in the lineup, then you don't talk about (injuries)."

Jeter says ankle injury is 'no big deal' and he will play tonight

Injuries keep piling up for the New York Yankees and — after Derek Jeter was forced to leave last night's 5-4 win over the Red Sox — the shortstop insisted more than a few times that it was "no big deal."

The sight of the Captain limping off the field, after aggravating a bone bruise to his left ankle that has been bothering him for almost a week, had to send shivers through manager Joe Girardi's own body.

The Yankees are already dealing with numerous injuries. Jeter has been their most consistent player during the team's month-long slump.  It seems like the only numbers being piled up are inside the Yankees'  M*A*S*H unit.

Still, Jeter said he would be back in the lineup for tonight's game in Fenway.



"I don't talk about injuries," said the shortstop. "I'm playing, so it's not an issue."

Jeter was last seen at last night's game being escorted off the field after trying to beat out an inning-ending, double play grounder in the eighth.  Girardi and trainer Steve Donohue raced out to first base where the player was bent over in obvious pain.

The shortstop pleaded with his manager to stay in the game, but was replaced by Jayson Nix.

Girardi thinks the lure of a pennant race is too strong to keep Jeter on the bench.

"It's something he's been dealing with," Girardi said.  "There's not a lot you can do with it.  Knowing Derek, he will try [to play tonight]."

Jeter has been hobbled since chasing a pop-up on Sept. 5 and tweaked it again the next night, claims Girardi.

"I don't know exactly when it first happened, but really it's not a big deal," said Jeter after last night's game.  "I wanted to stay in the game.  They thought I should put ice on it.  I'll come back and play to tomorrow."

So tell us Derek, is it a big deal or what?