Jeter Puts Manhattan Apartment on Market

By Tony Mangia

What Does It Mean?

Yankee fans might be sinking too much thought into Derek Jeter putting his 5,425 square-foot apartment on the market. The listing of the 88th floor penthouse of the Trump World Tower in Turtle Bay has some people wondering if this is the end of the Yankee's captain bachelor days or if the aging shortstop is actually contemplating the possibility of signing on with another team after this season.

Much has been made of Jeter's slide in productivity this season. He's at the end of a 10-year contract and the 36 year-old serial celebrity-dater has not only shown signs of slowing down on the playing field but playing the field as well.

Rumors have been swirling about a wedding to his long-time (for him) girlfriend "Friday Night Lights" actress Minka Kelly, 30 since the Yankees won the 2009 World Series. Last November, some busybody saw the name "Jeter" listed under upcoming events at a prestegious Long Island reception hall and the 'genius' falsely speculated it was the Yankee and gave the paparazzi wet dreams . The only aisle Jeter has walked down yet goes from the locker room to the dugout at Yankee Stadium.

Jeter purchased the high-rise apartment in 2001 for $12.6 million and, according to Trump officials, has it listed for an asking-price of $20 million--or about one year's salary to Jeter.

Chances are slim that Jeter will end up crashing on Mets third baseman David Wright's Flatiron couch or sharing a bachelor pad with Rangers forward Sean Avery. In the off-season he lives in Florida and is building a 30 thousand square-foot waterfront home near Tampa known to the locals as "St. Jetersburg." Jeter also owns homes in Marlboro, N.J. and Greenwood Lake, N.Y.

Fans can probably relax. Jeter will probably be a Yankee for five more years even after this seasons ups and downs. He is probably getting ready to make the big move into the quieter and more comfortable digs of Kelly's West Village place. Gossips predict nuptials in November. Whether or not he stays in the city, Derek Jeter will always be a New Yorker who resides in Florida for tax reasons.