The Yankees’ pinstriped hard-on for Troy Tulowitzki was an open secret. Every season was supposed to be the one that the shortstop was finally traded to usurp Derek Jeter in New York. Also as well-known was the strained relationship between Jeter and GM Brian Cashman, though no one would talk about what turned things sour.
Contract talks between Jeter and Cashman got acrimonious in the fall of 2010, and S.L. Price’s new Sports Illustrated story features Cashman recalling how he hurt Jeter’s feelings by telling him to his face he preferred Tulowitzki.
“Who would you rather have playing shortstop this year than me?” Jeter asked Cashman.
“Do you really want me to answer that?” Cashman replied. Jeter told him to go ahead, and he listed Tulowitzki, then the Rockies’ shortstop who was in the midst of his first All-Star campaign. “We’re not paying extra money for popularity,” he added, “We’re paying for performance.”
Jeter ended up signing a three-year deal, but his relationship with the GM “never recovered.”
But how will Didi Gregorius feel about this revelation?
[SI]
Photo: AP
Contact the author at samer@deadspin.com.