Short on answers in the Bronx

Derek Jeter is out for a few games with a strained left quadriceps muscle, and it raises a few questions that aren't pleasant for New York Yankees fans.

Jeter is the captain of the team and (along with Jorge Posada) the biggest link to the championship teams from the last decade. But Jeter is now 33, and the Yankees don't seem to have anybody that's even a year or two away from being a solution in the organization.

And then there's this: Jeter isn't the fielder he used to be. Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports points out that Jeter ranked a minus-90, the second-worst in all of baseball, in John Dewan's book, “The Fielding Bible,” in which Dewan reviews data from every play. And that's not just among shortstops. The only one worse was Boston's Manny Ramirez.

And Jeter's bad legs opens up this debate: Can Alex Rodriguez still play shortstop? Should he?

For now, the Yankees called up Alberto Gonzalez from Triple-A, who is a superior fielder to utility man Wilson Betemit. But if Gonzalez struggles at the plate and Jeter's injury lingers, would Joe Girardi contemplate putting A-Rod back at his original position?

This definitely bears watching. They might not be able to wait until somebody like Hanley Ramirez becomes a free agent.