Now, maybe this is because Jeter is positioned differently than most other SSs; I don't know. But routine grounders (I'm not even talking about hard hit balls) to the SS side of 2B really should be fielded. Other SSs get there, set themselves, and make the throw. Without needing to dive.

Did anyone listen to the Jim Rome show last week when Orlando Cabrera esslentally said that Jeter is terrible at positioning himself? Talking about positioning, Cabrera said that he worked hard to know where balls will go so he doesn't have to dive much and still make all the plays. As a counterexample, Derek Jeter, he said, positions himself the same for everybody.

OC would know better than we do (another appeal to authority!), but if he's right, Jeter's poor defensive metrics would speak more to his positioning than just declining physical tools.

It's been mentioned here before, but when you get a replay from any kind of high angle that shows the batter, The Jeter, and the 2B (and perhaps even other IF), it's very obvious that on balls up the middle Jeter reacts well after Cano does. The ball is often past the pitcher's mound before he moves an inch. And as BIS tracker quoted in an article discussed here earlier this season asserted that the 1B is often moving toward first before Jeter moves toward the batted ball.