AWKWARD? HOW ABOUT EMBARRASSED, DEREK?

Source: Michael Reaves/Getty Images North America

I was pretty unimpressed with Derek Jeter telling the press that he felt like him coming to the Bronx for the Yankees / Marlins series would be awkward.  If you didn't know about it, you gotta see this. USA Today has the quotes:

"'I went to a spring training game when we played New York. But it would be an awkward situation for me to actually go to Yankee Stadium,' Jeter told reporters in Miami on Friday.

'I'm just being honest with you guys. That's why I'm not going,' Jeter said. 'I knew it was going to be a story, one way or the other. So, I might as well get out in front of it and say, I'm not going. So, I will not be there.'"

Source: Rick Diamond/One Voice: Somos Live!/Getty Images North America

But why? Many want to know what "Awkward" really means? Does it mean that the team is just terrible? That they have no pitching? That he doesn't want to see the fans? That he doesn't want to openly root for the Yankees, the team he's loved? Or is there more to it.

Now, I love Suzyn Waldman.  Most can't stand her but on a personal level I've met her a few times. She's a doll.  She's tough and she's iconic in many ways and a good person.  She and John Sterling were talking about Derek last night during the game and spoke about his awkward statement, and here's what they said:

But I have to say, I disagree, because as a business man, which is what Derek wants everyone to see him as, you can't have it both ways.

Source: Al Bello/Getty Images North America

Look, Derek was a New York Yankee. A great one at that, but he's no longer a Yankee "fan" as Suzyn is suggesting. I'm gonna be honest with you. Derek Jeter didn't want to come to New York because this Marlins team is nothing more than the leftovers after he dismantled it. And showing up in his old house as he watches the New York Yankees demolish his handy work is not something he wants to attach himself too... not yet anyway. After all, his Frankenstein is not complete.  And that's what it is folks. This isn't about seeing old friends and waving to the fans.  This is about him not wanting to show his face.

Source: Mark Brown/Getty Images North America

Derek Jeter is an iconic Yankee player.  He will go to the Hall of Fame and he should.  But he's a business man now... a Miami businessman who is trying to make a name for himself.  And trust me when I tell you, when you make a major investment, regardless of what Suzyn and John say... you align yourself with your product, regardless of the passion you had for the opponent at one time.  The trouble is... he's not there yet and the scabs he's fielding are not his true plan.  They are just a toy for now.

He'll get there... but he's not proud of this Marlins team yet.  Will he be? Maybe one day. But for now, there's no way in hell he's going to show off his broken down toy in his old residence.  That, my friends would tarnish his business persona.  And god forbid that happens...

Now, you can disagree and you can try and bash me for "hating" Derek Jeter.  I don't at all.  Harsh I am, but this is my opinion on the businessman that Derek is trying to be.  Because I cannot for a million years figure out why in hell he wouldn't come and see the fans that have celebrated him for 20 years.  That my friends is insanity.