Trying to understand what’s wrong with Derek Jeter

As a fan who doesn’t watch the games live (I live in Europe) I realize my perspective doesn’t match that of the viewers and fans who watch the Bombers day in and day out; and it’s specifically for that reason that I’m asking for your opinions on Derek Jeter.  I would like to preface my comments by saying that I’m as big a Jeter fan as you’ll find.  I get no joy from pointing out his declining stats, and am of the opinion that whatever might be wrong with him can be remedied with some tinkering of his swing or something technical.   Of course there is also the chance that he’s just having one of those blah years that all players have.  He’s certainly entitled to one with all that he’s accomplished, but above all there’s that part of me that wants him to finish out his career here as a productive player because it would be too painful to see Derek getting 15 million per year based mainly on his past achievements while his current play indicates he’s not worth that.  Derek is special in a way A-Rod never will be, no matter what A-Rod has accomplished or accomplishes with us from here on out.

At this point in the season the numbers aren’t going to change much.  After Sunday’s game Derek was hitting .264 (.334 last year) with and OBP of .332 (.406 last year) and a Slugging percentage of .374 (.465 last year).  There is one stat of Derek’s this year that doesn’t jive with this line of decreasing percentages, and it’s arguably the most important stat of all: runs scored.  Derek has scored 96 runs, which I believe is second or third in the AL, and he scored 107 last year.  It’s not at all a stretch to say that Derek will equal his runs scored from 2009 or surpass it with a far lower OBP.  This defies logic.  I recall when Knoblauch’s OBP started to plummet with the Yanks his runs scored followed suit.  I can recall three instances this week where Derek hit into a force play and came around to score a run.  That’s basically a reward for not having hit into a double play, and I say this fully aware that to some degree a batter cannot control where he directs the ball.  Let’s just say for the sake of argument that that’s happened 10 times this year. Depending on certain factors, it certainly detracts from the run that’s scored, though I imagine it happened quite few times last year too.  In any event, his runs scored total is a good one.

I am appealing to the members of Pinstripe Alley to give me their opinions.  I’ve read many posts by various members (Lord Duggan is the best example) on other topics that have proven to me that they have the technical baseball insight to determine if Jeter’s swing is too long; if his arms are too high, or if perhaps that stance that has always allowed him to drive even tough outside pitches the other way while at the same time being quick enough to either turn on the inside pitch or fist it the other way, is somehow in need of modification.  Having only the stats and highlights from MLB.com at my disposal it’s impossible for me to see if he’s simply hitting hard balls that are getting caught (from the way they’re described it doesn’t seem that way) and having a hard-luck year to some degree (He’s 36.  It’s not uncommon for players to start to decline at that age, although they don’t tend to decline this quickly in one year).  It seems like he’s really late on above average heat (93 and up. Lots of players started cheating on the fastball at around that age, Eddie Murray for one) pitches and topping a lot of breaking balls.  

As I said, I’m really looking for some input from members of this group because firstly I want to know about and am genuinely interested in technical explanations, and secondly, as a fan of the Yanks and Derek I want to believe that everything can be remedied.  He’s still a good player, but this season constitutes a MAJOR drop off.  

PS: I know I’m too wordy and use parentheses too often.  I thank you for your patience.