Derek Jeter will, with out a doubt, be playing shortstop all season long. So everyone can just sit back down, take a deep breath and relax. He can’t get to the ball up the middle like he used to and until A-Rod comes back Cody Ransom is going to have to go to his left a little more than a fan would like. But even with all the computing and number crunching, despite all the hearsay and rumor blogging, and whether you think he should or he shouldn’t, Jeter WILL be playing shortstop this season.

I understand that he may be considered one of the worst defensive short stops in the league and I am ok with the dribblers sneaking through the middle as he forms his all too familiar lunge for the ball he obviously isn’t going to reach. It doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter because he’s Derek freakin’ Jeter. He needs to be there this year because the only thing the Yankees may lack this season is familiarity; he’s the rock of the very new and different Yankee infield.

Mark Teixeira hit 33hr’s 121rbi’s with a .308ba and a .552slg last season. Everyone knows he can mash the ball, but what a few too many people don’t know is that he has a .996 career fielding percentage and hasn’t had more than 5 errors in any of the last five seasons. He also hasn’t played a game in pinstripes causing the slightest hesitation in your neck when looking up from his stat sheet.

Ransom is 33 years old and is about as familiar with the Yankee infield as a streaker galloping across the pitcher’s mound. The closest thing to a full season he’s played was 78 games with the giants in 2004; he was lost in the minors for a couple years after that not recording another at bat until 2007 with the Astros. He, unlike Teixeira, has played a game in pinstripes and his .302ba in 43 at-bats last year does briefly raise an eyebrow and calm an A-Rod stricken nerve.

Robinson Cano can be a lights out second basemen if he wants to be, but fans have gotten used to not knowing which Cano is going to show up come game time. His four big league seasons look as if they were played by four different players. His stats continue to be erratic giving the Yankee’s and their fans little to rely on not knowing what to expect when it comes to him at second base. His fielding leaves little to be desired and he often is frustratingly lazy. The cold weather also seems to affect him early in the season. With Jeter defensively slowing and A-Rod out, he really is going to need to step up his game this season and try not to mirror last year’s inconsistencies.

Jeter turns 35 in June. So what? He is the only sure thing the Yanks have in the line-up. Wang, Matsui and Posada are coming off serious injuries; CC, Burnett, and Teixeira are newbies; Gardner and Nady are starting their first seasons as a Yankee this year; Ransom is about as good as he is familiar, and Johnny Damon may be from another planet. Jeter is my sense of calm during an opening day line-up anxiety attack (even as the lead off man) and I’d really prefer it if he just stayed put.

The comfort of having Jeter at shortstop is worth the half dozen runs or so his slow legs will cost us. Derek’s a familiar and safe target for Posada’s virtually new shoulder, he’s the disciplined half of our 4-6-3 double play combination, and the glue to the strangers playing the rest of the infield positions.

He’s single handedly strapped the tradition, history, and charisma of the old stadium to his back and has walked it across the street. I wouldn’t want Derek Jeter anywhere else on opening day than at shortstop. His hands are still quick, his brain sharper than ever and he’ll still make all the plays when he needs to.

Let’s calm down this “move Derek to centerfield” chatter and watch to see if this Gardner guy isn’t something special first. Let’s give this Ramiro Pena kid at least another season of triple A ball so he can improve his swing and put on a couple more LBS before we crown him the next franchise shortstop. Let’s make sure the Yankees find comfort in their new home and find a groove in the new digs before we start messing with greatness. Let’s all realize that Jeter will play fine at shortstop and that there is much more to a shortstop than great plays up the middle.

Let’s all just take a deep breath and relax and realize how great it is that Jeter will be playing shortstop this season.