What everyone has generally heard about New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter is that the shortstop always wanted to be a Yankee. But maybe that was not true. Maybe there was a reason or a person behind Jeter signing with the Yankees.

The Captain used to play basketball to remain fit as he prepared to go join the Yankees. But as that situation came closer to him, he had doubts. Whether or not should he accept the offer by the Yankees, or should he just stay there (at his home) and play for Michigan? At least his dream of playing baseball was not changing. But the whole history could have changed had Jeter not called his college head coach for counsel.

The dilemma of Derek Jeter

When stuck in a dilemma, Jeter chose to seek counsel from Michigan head coach, Bill Freehan. As Michigan’s head coach, he should have wanted Jeter to stay in Michigan, but instead, he told him something which was right and best for the 18-year-old. 

As Jeter sought counsel from Freehan, his assistant Ace Adams told the reason why Derek did not want to sign with the Yankees. 

“The kid wanted to go to Michigan. No one knows this, but Jeter did not want to sign [with the Yankees]. He wanted to go to Michigan with his girlfriend, and he wanted to play there,” Adams said. 

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Meanwhile, Freehan told Jeter to sign with the Yankees and said that he’d be crazy if he didn’t. And that’s what Jeter did. He accepted the Yankees’ offer. The young 18-year-old left his college education at Michigan and left for Tampa to become a Yankees legend later in his life. 

How much did the Yankees offer Jeter?

Jeter wanted to go to Michigan but Yankees management wanted to sign Jeter no matter what. They kept inflating their offer till Jeter agreed to sign with them at $800,000. 

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The deal also included a bonus of $700,000. Out of which, his agent’s cut was 5% which amounted to around $35,000. Jeter gave up wanting to go to Michigan, left for Tampa as an 18-year-old, and returned as one of the best baseball players in the history of Major League Baseball.