Replacing the irreplaceable: Who should replace Jeter?

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It's strange to even be considering this. The Yankees will need to find someone to replace the irreplaceable Derek Jeter, but how do they go about doing this? You can't have just anybody playing the position held by Jeter for 20 years. At the moment, there aren't many plausible options. But regardless, the shortstop search needs to begin now.

First of all, I'd like to express my disagreement with anyone who says Eduardo Nunez should be Jeter's replacement. In 152 career games at short, Nunez has committed 30 errors and posts a fielding percentage of .940. That's well below average for a shortstop. If Nunez were to earn a permanent role, I'd feel much better if he was to play second base, where he posts a .981 fielding percentage in 20 career games.

An obvious option to "replace" the Captain would be Stephen Drew. An above average defender, Drew could provide the Yanks with a cheaper, but still talented, replacement. Along with his decent defense, Drew offers a productive bat. With the World Champion Red Sox last season, he hit .254 with 13 home runs and 67 RBI's. They aren't the greatest numbers in the world by any means, but they're good enough to provide the Yankees with some production from the shortstop position. His OPS of .777 last season made him an above average hitter, according to Bill James' classification.

Drew is a free agent as we speak, and is still having trouble finding a home. Scott Boras, Drew's agent, is known for having his clients sign late in the off-season, but the market for Drew is small. The Mets, one team with some interest in him, have now said that a signing is unlikely and the Red Sox won't be bringing him back with Xander Bogaerts most likely becoming the full-time shortstop in Boston.

The asking price for Drew is pretty high, being that he's a Boras client. But he's looking for a multi-year deal with an opt-out clause after the first year. This is simply perfect for the Yankees. If they can bring Drew in to play second base for the 2014 season and then play shortstop in 2015, the Yankees solve one of their issues for this year and the following years of a potential contract. This is exactly why I think Drew should be the Yanks' shortstop in 2015, and second baseman in 2014.

The Yankees traded for Brendan Ryan last season and re-signed him this offseason, but there's simply no chance that he'll be the starting shortstop in 2015. There's no doubt in the world that he's an incredible defender, but his offense, or lack-there-of, simply isn't going to get it done.