when mike lupica does a relatively swooning piece on captain intangibles, you KNOW he's going good:

In the parking lot after the game, Yankee general manager Brian Cashman said, "Maybe Derek's an MVP candidate, too."

Jeter won't have the numbers. Won't have Sheffield's numbers. Won't have Alex Rodriguez's numbers. Sometimes, a lot of times, we make too much of things that can't be measured when trying to measure Jeter's value to the Yankees. This time, though, we have not had to rhapsodize about Jeter's intangibles, not since the end of May. The tangibles have been there for all to see. He is a better player at shortstop this season than he has been in a while, and as good a hitter as he's ever been.

He seemed to be pressing in April and May. It was fair to wonder, even with Jeter's resume, if it had something to do with A-Rod being over there to his right, just because that was only human nature. And because he had never looked this bad at the plate. The Yankees had been his team for a long time. Now they had brought in the most overwhelming numbers this side of Barry Bonds.

How did Jeter respond to all of that? By playing brilliantly.