The question had to be posed. Derek Jeter, the most productive man in baseball for his age, went down with an ankle injury on Saturday in Game 1 of the NLCS against the Detroit Tigers. Without a doubt, advanced medicine will have Jeter out on the field by spring training, but is there any reason to believe the Yankees' captain might retire after his contract is up in a few years?

I think so. 

Prior to the beginning of the 2012 season, the Yankees' Mariano Rivera had announced his retirement. So naturally, since Jeter was also aging, the questions about his retirement from the game soon followed.

"I can't comment on what would force me to retire or go home or stop playing. I have a lot of confidence and I have always had a lot of confidence. If that starts to waver, then I wouldn't do it," said Jeter in a press conference the first day of spring training

Can we picture Jeter running and diving into the hole now? Would his confidence not waver and cause him to hesitate when trying to hustle down the line to reach on an infield base hit, but being conscious that his body is getting more fragile?

I can't see Jeter retiring before his contract his up, that is for sure. He is a fighter and he loves the game of baseball. What I do not see is the Yankees and Jeter sitting down for a prolonged period of time trying to negotiate a multi-year contract.

The Yankees are already paying the price for having one of the oldest teams in baseball. Could fatigue be a cause for the horrible postseason hitting numbers the club is posting? 

Having Jeter around beyond the age of forty would probably do more harm than good. 

The Yankees can't keep him around to mentor younger players because the Yankees are packed with veterans and every time they have a youngster in the bigs he is eventually sent down. 

With Jeter out, the Yankees are left with a hole. There is no prospect in their roster that could fill in the vacancy left by Jeter and instead the Yankees have replaced him with another aging veteran, Jayson Nix. Eduardo Nuñez was added to the roster, but the Yankees do not trust his glove.

With Jeter looking more fragile than ever, it would take a huge 2013 performance to convince me that he will be back in the Yankees' roster following the 2014 season at the conclusion of his contract.