Derek Jeter, Alex Rodriguez worth every penny to Yanks

With Alex Rodriguez at third base and Derek Jeter at shortstop, the Yankees start every game with $52 million worth of ballplayers standing within 50 feet of each other, either in the dugout, bats in their hands, or in the infield. They’ve always earned their money, but this fall they have been a bargain.

The Yankees have done a lot of things right to get this close to their 27th World Series championship but nothing has been a bigger key than the guys with the actress girlfriends, arguably the best third baseman-shortstop combination ever.

In Rodriguez’s first spring training playing alongside Jeter, pitcher Kevin Brown said it would be great to have “two great shortstops” guarding the left side. But both have always distinguished themselves more with their ability to produce runs that prevent them. Those are the skills that have been displayed during this postseason.

Entering Game 5 on Monday night, Rodriguez and Jeter were hitting a combined .340 with nine home runs, 21 runs batted in and 24 runs scored over 13 playoff games. Factor in almost a walk per game apiece, along with three pitches that have hit Rodriguez, and they’ve reached base 57 times in 124 plate appearances.

That’s some statistic.

The Twins, Angels and Phillies had enough pitching to be among the best teams in the majors. But using only the best of their pitchers, they have gotten Jeter and Rodriguez out only slightly more than half the time. That’s how you average 5.2 runs in the playoffs.

Greatness in October is almost second nature to Jeter. He’s the modern Yogi Berra, having played in seven World Series in his 13 seasons. It’s not an entirely new experience for Rodriguez, but he entered 2009 haunted by having hit .159 while driving in one run in 59 at-bats in his last three playoff series.

Rodriguez said his two-out double in the ninth inning off a shaken Brad Lidge in Sunday’s Game 4 was the biggest hit of his career. But it was only one of a series of big moments for him during the run, the most dramatic being game-tying home runs in the ninth inning of Game 2 against the Twins and the 11th inning of Game 2 against the Angels.

The second of those came in a stretch in which Rodriguez, 34, homered in three consecutive games off the Angels. He entered Monday night’s possible clincher with six homers and 15 RBIs. He had tied the Yankees’ record for most home runs and RBIs in a single postseason. He broke the RBI mark with a first-inning double Monday.

Rodriguez opened the World Series by going 0-for-8 with six strikeouts before getting back on track.

“It is important to stay calm,” Rodriguez said of his approach. “For me, making an adjustment after Game 1 and 2 was very easy because what I was doing was just being a little overanxious. One thing about postseason, if you want to hit, you’ve got to swing at strikes, and if you don’t swing at strikes, you’re going to expose your weakness.”

Jeter, 35, hasn’t had as many big moments as Rodriguez in the latest run, a but he has scored runs in 10 of 13 games.

Don’t be surprised if the Yankees announce a new contract for Jeter shortly after the World Series. He has one year left on his 10-year, $189 million contract.

Rodriguez’s 10-year, $275 million contract pays him until he’s 42. Based on that, Jeter could seek a six-year extension, which would take him through the 2016 season.

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