by Bob Klapisch

A year later, however, Jeter is on his way to perhaps his finest season ever, currently leading the Yankees with a .331 average. Make no mistake, his renaissance has made it easier for Teixeira to assimilate, not to mention drive in runs.

Say what you want about Jeter's non-quantifiable contributions, he has a larger footprint than anyone in the organization. As Johnny Damon notes, "there's something about Derek that I found out when I came here. He makes everyone around him play better."

The hard data suggests Damon might be correct, especially as the Yankees are on pace for 100-plus wins. Jeter went into Sunday's game with a .397 on-base percentage and .473 slugging percentage, which would rank as the second-best numbers of his career, behind only his 1999 campaign.

And as recently noted by the New York Daily News, only three players with at least 8,000 career plate appearances (Jeter has 9,703) and half of their games at shortstop have posted higher slugging percentages than Jeter: Alex Rodriguez, Joe Cronin and Honus Wagner. Jeter is also the only career shortstop to hit 200 homers and steal 200 bases.

Who would've thought Jeter could reverse his trend line at the age of 35? He's enjoyed across-the-board consistency, which means he's been hitting at home (.325), on the road (.334), in wins (.340) and in losses (.312). Jeter's .506 slugging percentage is 61 points higher at Yankee Stadium than on the road, which means he's making proper use of the ballpark's favorable dimensions (and wind currents). But his on-base splits are nearly identical (.401 home, .394 away).

One more thing: Jeter is on the verge of passing Lou Gehrig as the franchise's all-time hits leader, which can't do much for his Q-rating in New York — the captain is already at cult-level status — but it nevertheless sets the stage for the mother of all contract negotiations in 2011.

Jeter has made it clear he'd like to finish his career in pinstripes. The Yankees certainly want him back when his current deal expires after 2010. Everyone agrees on that much. But after earning $41 million in 2009-10, Jeter will be in no mood for a pay cut, not after seeing A-Rod awarded a 10-year, $275 million deal after the 2007 season.

How much will Jeter be worth at age 37 is a question the Yankee hierarchy doesn't dare discuss publicly. No team in the last 50 years has won a championship with a shortstop that old, although that won't deter either side from finding middle ground. That is, unless Jeter wants to stay at the position into his 40s and is thinking of earning $25 million a year.

The Yankees are bracing for the possibility that Jeter could indeed ask for, say, $100 million over four years, knowing the captain would have enormous leverage in the talks. That's why management won't even begin to discuss a new contract this winter; in the wake of an MVP-caliber season, the cost would be prohibitive.

Instead, the Yankees will run the table on Jeter's existing deal and hope common sense prevails in 2011. One industry analyst says, "let's see if (Jeter) realizes the market has come down" since A-Rod's record-setting contract.

But good luck to the Yankees trying to negotiate against Jeter's résumé. He's not just a leader on the field, he's been perfect in his public demeanor, as well. The shortstop has never once embarrassed the team in a Page Six item. To the contrary, Jeter hung around for all 15 innings of the 2008 All-Star Game at the Stadium, long after his presence was required (A-Rod bolted after the game went beyond regulation). And Jeter joined Andy Pettitte in representing the team at Bobby Murcer's funeral in Oklahoma.

Granted, those nuggets, by themselves, won't resolve a contract impasse. And they don't necessarily mean Jeter is the most valuable Yankee. But they're part of a larger body of evidence that says the captain's cachet has never been more formidable. Don't bet against him.

Here are the runners-up on the Yankee ballot:

Mark Teixeira may be an MVP candidate, but he'd be runner-up on his teammates' ballot. (Darren Calabrese / Associated Press)

MARK TEIXIERA: Although the sabremetric community says Teixeira is having a sub-par year in the field (he has a negative Ultimate Zone Rating), you can't convince Yankee infielders of that fact. Or Yankee pitchers, for that matter.

"Mark gets to balls a lot of other guys never did," says Andy Pettitte, carefully avoiding any mention of Jason Giambi. "He gives a pitcher a lot of confidence that just about any ground ball is going to turn into an out. That's pretty important."

Offensively, Teixeira will end up with his best HR production since 2005, and if he goes crazy this month he could surpass his career best, 43. No doubt Teixeira is getting help from the Stadium — 20 of his 33 blasts have been at home — but he's not about to apologize for that.

The most significant split, however, is found in Teixeira's month-to-month breakdown. He batted .200 in April while A-Rod was on the DL. As soon as the third baseman recovered from hip surgery and was back in the lineup, Teixeira surged — he batted .330 in May.

MARIANO RIVERA: Talk about machine-like efficiency: since June 12, Rivera is 24 for 24 in save opportunities, having allowed one run (a HR) in 30 innings while averaging a strikeout an inning. For a closer, that's a large enough sample size to say Rivera is as good as ever, if not better (assuming that's possible).

Repeat after the Yankees, who've been asking the same question since 1997: who could ever replace this guy?