TAMPA, Fla. — Alex Rodriguez is down and out with a hip problem, off to Colorado to see a specialist about a cyst. Marc Phillipon is said to be a world-class doctor, but he is not likely to prescribe anything for the drivel that comes out of A-Rod's mouth.

Whether he's parading his kids into a photo op, or asking Katie Couric to pick his free-agent destination, or praising his World Baseball Classic teammate, Jose Reyes, in a way that might offend Derek Jeter and Johnny Damon, Rodriguez forever leads the league in unforced errors.

This franchise player can't be trusted with the franchise. It has nothing to do with a hip that could bench A-Rod until who knows when, and everything to do with a lack of leadership skills and common sense that would allow him to use steroids, to tell all sorts of tall tales about his drug use and to wish out loud that Reyes played for the Yanks.

Just another circle of reasons why the Yankees should extend the contract of A-Rod's most conspicuous ex-friend, Jeter, whose deal will expire at the close of next season.

They need to keep Jeter beyond 2010, if only to serve as an A-Rod deodorant.

"Run it by Cash," Jeter said of Brian Cashman, the general manager. Before word hit of A-Rod's injury and stated affection for Reyes, and before it was clear few were embracing A-Rod's claim he meant his own shortstop no harm, Jeter was walking with a reporter as he addressed the idea of an extension.

Jeter was walking away from his first career victory over his very own Yankees, a Team USA victory aided by his two RBI, of course.

Jeter stopped as he came upon his agent, Casey Close, and pointed toward the rep. "Cash can call him and then I can answer the question," Jeter said.

The captain was publicly inviting Cashman to consider an add-on to his 10-year, $189 million deal, and why not? If the Yankees remain committed to the $275 million they handed A-Rod, not to mention the $30 million bonus package for his fraudulent home run chase, why shouldn't Jeter suggest that the GM give him a call?

"You have to ask them," Jeter said of management and an extension. "I have no control over that. ... You know I've never talked about a contract situation in the past and I'm not going to start now, but that question's a good question for them. I could answer your question if I was approached."

Jeter hasn't been approached.

There's a big difference between not being approached, and not wanting to be approached.

Cashman said the other day he hasn't given serious thought to a new deal for Jeter, not with two full seasons to go on the existing one. "It's not on my radar right now," he said.

A-Rod isn't on Cashman's radar, either.

A-Rod is the radar.

Sooner rather than later, Jeter's future needs to find its way onto the GM's screen.

"They haven't come to us," said Close, the agent, "and their history is not to do it in advance. But I'll keep you updated if that changes."

Will it change? This was the right day to ask.

Jeter was playing for his country's WBC team against the Yankees. He was playing against the only uniform he's ever wanted to wear, the uniform of his childhood dreams.

He might someday wear a different jersey for keeps. Nobody believes that will happen, but nobody believed Michael Jordan would play for the Wizards or that Joe Montana would suit up for the Chiefs.

Jeter saw it all end ugly for Joe Torre and Bernie Williams, so he's not taking any happily ever after for granted. He remembers the final score for fellow metropolitan area icons.

Phil Simms was cut. Don Mattingly was nudged into retirement. Patrick Ewing was shipped out of town.

Jeter should be anywhere from 65 to 100 hits shy of 3,000 at the end of his current deal. The Yankees can't possibly finance A-Rod's hollow home-run derby while denying the face of their last dynasty — and the face of all drug-free players — his chance to become the first man in franchise history to clear 3,000 hits.

The captain will be 37 in the summer of 2011, the first season of a potential extension. He will need to rely on his intangible grace more than ever as his physical skills decline.

But if any golden oldie is worth the gamble, Jeter's the one. The Yanks gave him $189 million for leading them to the four championships. They should offer him another $45 million over two years for helping them build the new palace across the street in the Bronx.

That would give Jeter a face-saving raise on his annual wage while keeping the length of the contract reasonable. Cashman also could explain to Jeter that this would likely be his last Yankee deal, that the franchise desperately wants him to retire a Yankee, and that the team reserves the right to move him out of the shortstop position before it engraves him a watch.

If the Yankees don't extend Jeter this year, his future will be a 24/7 issue across the entire 2010 season. Divorce proceedings could turn hotter than the flames that engulfed Green Bay and Brett Favre, and LeBron James could land in the market just in time to seize Jeter's vacated throne.

It was a lot to digest on a day when Jeter looked awfully strange under his red cap, knocking out Phil Hughes with his two-run single and turning a double play with a screaming Jorge Posada bearing down on him.

Jeter almost ran into the Yankees' Steinbrenner Field dugout a couple of times before making a hard turn for the third-base side. Other than that, the shortstop said, "if felt just like an intrasquad game."

But there were reminders of Jeter's powerful legacy all the same, starting with the Jeffrey Maier homer hit at the expense of Team USA's manager, Davey Johnson, then in charge of the Orioles. Johnson was a bench coach for the Americans' 2006 WBC team when a clubhouse meeting was called.

"And Davey introduced himself," Jeter recalled, "and he said the reason he's here is because I hit a cheap home run against him."

When Jeter's Team USA was done with its 6-5 victory over the Jeter-less Yanks, Johnson said, "It's nice to have him on my side for a while."

It's been nice for the Yankees to have Jeter on their side for 13 seasons. They should extend the blissful marriage now rather than flirt with a nasty divorce later.