Major League Baseball

Fans side with Yankees over Jeter

Published Nov. 27, 2010 12:00 a.m. ET

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While Derek Jeter and the Yankees remained poles apart in contract negotiations Saturday, a survey of baseball fans found the public opinion was swinging firmly behind the New York franchise.

Many Yankees fans were previously critical of the team bosses' tough talk as they attempted to renew the 36-year-old's services on a cheaper contract.

But a New York Post poll found almost three in four -- 72.18 percent -- now felt their reported three-year offer, worth $15 million a year, was a fair one.

Only 27.82 percent of the 12,939 people polled on the paper's website believed the lifelong Yankee deserved more money, and respect, from his employers.

The figures came a day after The New York Times reported Jeter's agent Casey Close was pitching for a four or five-year contract, worth between $23 million to $24 million a year.

The Times cited “a person in baseball who had been briefed on the matter,” who said the already-strained negotiations were stalemated by the two sides' disparate valuations of the shortstop.

A free agent after completing his 10-year $189 million contract, Jeter's bargaining position appeared weakened after 2010 saw him drop to the poorest hitting average of his 15 full seasons as a Yankee.

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