Derek Jeter in a Post-DJ3K World--What's Next?

Last weekend, Derek Jeter reached and eclipsed the 3,000 hit plateau with inimitable, Jeterian flair. But now that the warm glow of the DJ3K honeymoon has receded, the Yankees, as a franchise, could be excused for asking the Captain "What's next?" After all, they owe him $40 million more over the next two-and-a-half seasons. During the first week of Jeter's DL stint, Mark Feinsand of the Daily News, who appears on the "Daily News Fifth" segment of the Yankees' WCBS radio broadcast, noted that if you erase the names and look at the stats, batting Brett Gardner leadoff is a no-brainer.  That's not particularly insightful, mind you, but that kind of clear-headed, independent thought qualifies as revolutionary during a broadcast that features Yankee mouthpieces Suzyn Waldman and John Sterling.  Basically, if you bump The Captain off of leadoff, the only logical place to put him is at or near the bottom of the order.  And you can't do that to The Captain.  The horse (in the form of A-Rod's criminally insane contract) is already out of the barn, but the strained tone of Jeter's last contract negotiation suggests the Yankees have realized that the lionization of certain individuals isn't necessarily good for business, especially when you have one of the strongest brands in international sports history. What Jeter does next--in terms of accepting a move off of SS or a move down the order--will challenge the Yankees' powers of image management. In English soccer, there's a cliche that "No player is bigger than the club."  The Yankees may be belatedly coming around to that school of thought.