Pride of the Yankees: Jeter and Rose

Rose DeWitt, Amber Rose, Rose Will Monroe…those I can see. Pete Rose, no.

There’s only one thing I wanted to add - a comparison of Derek Jeter and Pete Rose in terms of hits. As you’ll see below, it’s a good comparison (thus far) because Jeter to this point in his career, in terms of games played, at bats, plate appearances, age, and hits, is at a very similar pace to where Rose was at a similar point in his career.

...Nevertheless, with Jeter regaining form this year and playing closer to his career levels (his OPS+ right now is 117, just 3 points below his career 120), it’s fair to think that Jeter can achieve a very rare hits total in his own right. Let’s do some projecting, comparing Jeter to Rose along the way, and taking into account that as Jeter ages, his abilities and playing time will likely diminish:

...2016 (age 42): This is as far as I will go with projecting Jeter still playing. It certainly wouldn’t be unheard of - Omar Vizquel, a career shortstop, is 42 and still playing, though he gives some defensive flexibility that Jeter will unlikely offer by this point, and even with that he’s had a very limited role this year. If Jeter is still playing, I imagine he will almost exclusively be a role player, and health will almost certainly be a concern. I’ll project 53 hits for him, bringing his career total to a nice round number - 3,640. Rose at age 42 had 121 hits, bringing his career total to 3,990. Rose’s 121 hits is pretty lofty considering his age, but with just a 69 OPS+ that year (1983), Rose was likely more of a drain than anything else on his team, especially considering he played 151 games (and thus would regularly weaken his team’s lineup). Rose would become a player-manager during the following season, and keep himself in the lineup with frequency over the next 2+ years in order to surpass Cobb, ultimately reaching 4,256 (and quite possibly over 4,300 if not for the 1981 strike).