Yankees Shut Down Jeter For The Rest Of The Season

Derek Jeter's nightmare season is officially over. New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has announced that the Yankees are placing the 39-year-old shortstop on the 15-day DL, "effectively ending his season", says Cashman.

Jeter was removed from Saturday's game against the Boston Red Sox after hurting his surgically repaired left ankle, and has been out of the Yankees' lineup ever since, missing his fourth straight game tonight, and 1,000th game overall this season -- not really.

"It's very disappointing not to be able to play, especially this time of year," Jeter said. "This is when I want to play the most. Unfortunately, that's not the case. The entire year has been pretty much a nightmare for me physically, so I guess it's fitting that it ends like this."

Jeter underwent a CT scan on his ankle Saturday and although the Yankees' team physician, Chris Ahmad, said the results were negative, the club still sent the tests to Dr. Robert Anderson, who performed the surgery back in October, for a second opinion. Anderson told the Yankees that a lot of areas in his ankle need to be strengthened, but there's no time this season to do so.

"I'll have an entire offseason to strengthen legs." Jeter said. "That's what we're talking about here."

In a season filled with constant injuries, Jeter has only appeared in just 17 games for the Yankees. In his time in the lineup, he wasn't his normal self, batting .190 with one home run and seven RBIs.

Jeter made his season debut after missing the first 91 games the season coming off ankle surgery, and he's now making his his third trip to the DL since starting his season in early July. After just one game, he went back in the DL with a quad strain, then back on because of a calf strain just four-games after returning, and now his season is over because of problems with his ankle.

Jeter wasn't surprised by the Yankees decision to place him on the DL, saying, "I wasn't moving the way I wanted to move, I wasn't hitting the way I wanted to hit. I wasn't doing anything; I wasn't throwing the way I wanted to throw. If you can't play how you're capable of playing or what you're used to doing, then you're really not helping out. If I'm not able to play how I want to play, then I'm not benefiting the team."

He, nor anyone else in the Yankees organization believe that his career is over. "I have not seen Derek Jeter play his last game. No one has." Cashman said.

"I just know he's going to do everything in his power to get back in that field for spring training." said Yankees manager Joe Girardi. "There are no guarantees in life, but I think he's going to do everything he can to get back." he added.

"... I will never doubt Derek because of who he is. If he believes he'll be back, I believe him."

Tuesday night, the Yankees acquired infielder Brendan Ryan from the Seattle Mariner for a player to be named later. Ryan is in tonight's starting lineup, and is expected to get a lot of playing time at shortstop with Jeter down.

Ryan is a stellar fielder, coming off a Gold Glove on 2012, but his numbers with the bat don't suggest that the Yankees traded for him so he could drive in a bunch of runs, as he hit just .192 in 87 games for the Mariners this season, with three home runs and 21 RBIs.

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