Is Derek Jeter a guy a player you should consider drafting for your fantasy team in 2014? The quick answer is no, at least not as your starting shortstop.
Honestly it all depends on how your draft has gone up until around round 23. At this point you need to asses your team and see what kind of players you want in order to round off your team.
If your starting shortstop is Troy Tulowitzki there is a good chance that you are going to want a backup shortstop for when he inevitably gets injured. Fortunately Jeter’s ADP this season is 256 meaning he isn’t being picked until the last round if at all.
Jeter has the potential to be a decent value pick for you this upcoming season. Despite being injured almost all of last season I would not count on Jeter missing that much time this year. In the past 10 season Jeter has played under 150 games twice proving that even with age he has good durability. In the past four years Derek Jeter has played in 464 while Tulowitzki has only played in 438 games while being in the middle of his prime (sadly for Tulo this includes the measly 17 games Jeter played in last year).
You may only get 130 games out of Jeter this season but there’s something about a players retirement season that seems to bring out one last hoorah for the fans. Chipper Jones in his age 40 retirement season managed to bat .287 with 14 homeruns and 62 RBI. While Jeter won’t put up 14 homeruns I’d be willing to bet he has one last .290 batting average season in that bat to along with 8 homeruns, 80 runs scored and even 10 steals. These are valuable numbers at a position not overly deep with talent, where the top players also have a history with injuries.
Even if you don’t draft Jeter, he may very well go undrafted, and if that’s the case I would highly recommend keeping an eye in him throughout the season. If Jeter can prove he still has worth, he’s a guy that may be worthy of starting in the middle infield flex position or your utility spot. Jeter has done nothing but defy the odds and rumors that he can no longer hit, and if there is one player worth betting on in his final season it would be Derek Jeter.