The New York Yankees enter the 2015 campaign without a captain in the wake of the retirement of Derek Jeter, and general manager Brian Cashman believes that the captaincy should retire with the Bronx Bombers legend.
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Jeter, who was the 16th captain in franchise history, bid farewell to the sport at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
"I think Derek did it as well as anyone can,'' Cashman told ESPNNewYork.com. "He wore it well, and I'm not a big advocate of giving out the captaincy anyway. I'm not going to recommend anyone being named captain of the New York Yankees right away."
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He continued: "And that's not disrespectful of any of the guys I have here that have a lot of leadership. As far as I'm concerned, and I'm not the decision-maker on this, that captaincy should be retired with No. 2. I wouldn't give up another captain title to anybody else.''
Yankees manager Joe Girardi indicated that despite the lack of an actual captain, there is no absence of leadership amongst his club.
"We give the freedom to our guys in the clubhouse, whoever wants to speak up, I don't care how many days [in the big leagues] you have, you can speak up," the skipper said.
Jeter was captain of the Yankees for a team-record 11 seasons, taking over the honor in 2003, but Cashman noted that he wasn't the only leader on the team.
"Everyone knows that Mariano Rivera took care of the relievers and Andy Pettitte took care of the starters,'' Cashman said. "And of course the managers, Joe Torre and Joe Girardi, were leaders as well. So I'm not an advocate of one guy being 'the guy.'"
Cashman said filling the captain vacancy "isn't my call" and Girardi agreed by saying he "didn't think the Yankees needed a captain this year," and it appears as though no captain will emerge for 2015 despite there being plenty of veterans on the club.
But, as Girardi points out, you don't have to be a captain to lead the team as the only team with a denoted captain following Jeter's retirement is the other New York team as the Mets have third baseman David Wright as their captain, though he doesn't wear a 'C'.
"I don't think you have to have a 'C' on your chest to be a leader," Girardi said.
Jeter certainly was a leader on and off the field as the 14-time All-Star and five-time World Series champion has plenty of accolades.
Jeter is the Yankees all-time leader in hits (3,465), and games played (2,747) among other franchise marks.
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