Here's how Derek Jeter's retirement relates to the Giants: It doesn't. Other than the Giants also having a cherubic, brilliant, multi-championshipped leader of men, there is no relationship between Jeter and the Giants.
Unless ...
Well, I can find three, maybe four things. Apologies in advance.
1. The Yankees could draft Jeter sixth overall in 1992 because they were so awful in 1991. One of the reasons they were so awful in 1991 is because Hensley Meulens was not good. So it goes.
Picking just after the Yankees: the Giants. And they just might have picked Jeter. I don't have inside information or old Baseball Americas to confirm that. Just a guess. The Giants were never chasing the Yankees for draft position, though. The old system used to alternate leagues with each pick, so the Giants were really jockeying with the Reds. The Reds finished one game worse.
It's fun to go back and pick the games from the 1991 season that put Jeter on the Giants and Calvin Murray on the Yankees. Here's a 1-0 win against the Dodgers in which Dave Righetti was the relief star, and Kevin Mitchell drove in the winning run with a hit-by-pitch. Here's a game in which feather-hearted Tom Herr singlehandedly helped the Giants beat the Reds.
If it wasn't for Tommy Herr, the Giants might have drafted Derek Jeter. If it wasn't for my horse ...
Also of note:
Some scouts say Stanford outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds is the best player in the draft.
Baseball is a strange, strange sport.
2. There were once hilarious rumors that the Giants were interested in Jeter after 2010. Or not rumors, rather, but rumblings that the Giants were in contact with Derek Jeter's agent. Who was also Buster Posey's agent. Which ... wait ...
The rumblings were strong enough to force an unnecessary reaction post out of me. Can you imagine a post that unnecessary on this site? It's hard to remember, but it happened.
3. Brian Sabean was the V.P. of scouting and development for the Yankees when they drafted Jeter. And Mariano Rivera. And Andy Pettitte and Jorge Posada in back-to-back rounds. This success made him the subject of this depressing article from 2007. It could only be written in a season in which the Giants were absolutely terrible. The best quote? This one, from Sabean
"It's still tough to see my friends with two, even three rings."
You just want to pinch his cheeks.
4. Also, Ruben Rivera stole Jeter's bat and glove for $2,500. That should probably make the list, too.
Not saying the Giants would have been better off with Jeter instead of Murray -- Jeter could have collided with Bonds in shallow left and ruined both of their careers for all we know. Just trying to give the masses the Jeter content they deserve.
No, the Jeter content they crave.
Mostly, though, I wanted to link to that '07 article. I also wanted another reason to remind everyone that Buster Posey is on the Giants. This seemed like an appropriate way to do both.