Ahhhh yes, the Derek Jeter conversation.
Want to know how to quickly tell a casual baseball fan from a someone that has taken the time to study the game? Bring up Derek Jeter.
Easily the most over-rated baseball player of my lifetime, and I'm not a young pup. He's a very good player, no question - but not a good fielder, and his offensive contributions (even using simple non-situational adjusted stats like OPS) are lower than several other shortstops in the same era.
One of the interesting facets of baseball is that most interactions happen in isolation, in terms of an individual's performance. Do other teammates help you swing the bat harder, or do a better job catching a fly ball? Not to a measurable extent - certainly not the way that a good point guard can elevate the performance of others on the basketball floor.
There are intangibles in baseball, for sure, and I believe that Derek Jeter probably sets a good example for his teammates to a greater degree than others do. But how much of a factor has that been in terms of the Yankees' success? You will have a tough time arguing that point with me.
I love this part of baseball - it is possible to accurately quantify a player's performance to a degree that isn't possible in the other major sports.
Those numbers, clearly, tell you that Derek Jeter is a very good player, one of the top ten shortstops of his era, but not even close to the greatest shortstop ever.