Derek Jeter’s Three-Year Deal With Yankees Reportedly “Done”

After a week or two of negotiations, Derek Jeter will be a Yankee in 2011.

According to YES Network’s Jack Curry, the deal between Jeter and the only team he’s ever known as a Major League Baseball player is “done.”

Jeter’s 3-yr deal with Yanks is done. He’ll make between $15-$17 million a year. 4th yr option isn’t guaranteed. Deal contingent on physicalThose figures, if accurate, mean that the player most often associated with the Yankees’ winning ways in the past two decades gave the club another big win.

Early reports said that Jeter wanted $22-24 million per year from the Yankees, a substantial increase on his previous salary, and reaction to that report only imagined the Yankees shelling out $17-19 million per year. Now, it seems the Yankees will keep Jeter in pinstripes for less than his previous salary — and for only three years, the club’s oft-stated desired contract length.

Jeter’s probably getting paid a bit more than he would fetch on the open market, but the Yankees are getting him without paying much of a “Jeter bonus.” If this is truly the end of the negotiations, that’s a win for the Yankees, and one that lets both parties focus on how to prepare to win in 2011.