So writes my brother:

He has no power, diminishing range and he made several painful mental mistakes in last night’s game. Fortunately only the lack of power impacts my fantasy team. But who do the Yankees have in the pipeline for next season?

The thing about Derek Jeter is that he has been aging for a while. What masked his decline was an outlier year in 2006. Here’s Jeter’s OPS, and steals from 1999 – 2007, not including 2006:

1999: .990 OPS, 19 SB
2000: .897 OPS, 22 SB
2001: .857 OPS, 27 SB
2002: .794 OPS, 32 SB
2003: .843 OPS, 11 SB (in 119 games)
2004: .823 OPS, 23 SB
2005: .839 OPS, 14 SB
2007: .840 OPS, 15 SB

Clearly this is a player who stepped down a notch about 6 years ago. The 2006 year, however, messes up the picture:

1999: .990 OPS, 19 SB
2000: .897 OPS, 22 SB
2001: .857 OPS, 27 SB
2002: .794 OPS, 32 SB
2003: .843 OPS, 11 SB
2004: .823 OPS, 23 SB
2005: .839 OPS, 14 SB
2006: .900 OPS, 34 SB
2007: .840 OPS, 15 SB

With an OPS of .732 to date in 2008, Jeter may just be having a poor start, or he may have stepped down another notch. After 2001, excepting 2006, Jeter’s OPS slipped below .850 for good. Perhaps 2008 is the year that his OPS slips below .800 for good.

That said, Jeter has two secondary qualities that always add to his value. First, the Yankees always score lots of runs. Second, other than in 2003, he never gets injured. Until this year.