Written by Andy | 05 May 2011

Keith Allison/FlickrThe New York Yankees have announced that shortstop Derek Jeter will be day-to-day for the next several years with baseball skills that are gradually eroding.

Jeter says he couldn't identify one specific instance when his playing ability started to diminish, but thinks it may have happened right around the time he made his ten-thousandth plate appearance.

"I can't really pinpoint it, but I'm pretty sure it started in Baltimore," said the iconic Yankee captain of his slowly fading athletic talents. "It's not a big deal — like a stiff back or a sore arm — totally something I can play through for $17 million a year."

Girardi has no plans to permanently remove Jeter from the lineup, a player he describes as "having been great for a long time", for something as trivial as deteriorating ability.

"Derek has given the Yankees a lot over the course of his seventeen seasons, and he will continue to be a major factor for our baseball team. Everyone just has to understand his contributions will no longer come in the form of getting on base, scoring runs or throwing guys out."

According to experts, if Jeter's condition worsens it could lead to retirement or the possibility of limping through a couple of awkward seasons as a member of the Kansas City Royals.

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