ESPN New York writer Wallace Matthews started his “Source: Yanks will overpay Derek Jeter” article like this:
Derek Jeter is going to be paid Ryan Howard money for putting up Marco Scutaro numbers.
After 263 words of somewhat related material, Matthews bothered to state his two sources’ contract prediction for Jeter: “three years at somewhere between $15 million and $20 million per season.”
And then waited until the 19th paragraph of his article to say this:
Jeter, of course, commands much more money than Scutaro for several reasons, not the least of which is the value of his brand to the Yankees and the fact that he was a leading member of the five Yankee teams that won the World Series between 1996 and 2009. He has also been the team captain since 2003 and is the undisputed face of the franchise.
Does this contract prediction surprise anyone? Not me. Yes, Jeter did post Scutaro numbers last year, but he also had one of his best years in 2009.
I’m more outraged by Matthews’ disregard for the inverted pyramid (most important info goes on top) than I am for the high-paying contract.
When I tweeted about Matthews’ grotesque lead, he responded to me with this:
nice work if you can get it, and apparently he can. Never said it was a bad thing
Right. You just waited until the 19th paragraph to say that the contract prediction was appropriate. I of course tweeted that back at him. And, of course, he has not replied.
UPDATE: Matthews wants me to edit for him next time.
