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One of the many admirable qualities about Derek Jeter is that he never folds under questioning. Entering the final season of one's contract can be frustrating dealing with endless and annoying questions about a "lame-duck" status. It's magnified by a thousand in Jeter's case because he's been a career-long Yankee and fans would consider it sacrilegious to see him in another uniform in 2011.

But Jeter's never been one left with his foot in his mouth, retracting or "misremembering." Today was Jeter the media player at his finest: Talking about a sensitive topic once and only once and removing the focus off himself. It's exactly why he knows this will not be a season-long distraction.

"Maybe it'll cause a lot of speculation and stories around here, but there won't be a distraction because I won't be talking about it," Jeter said.

Here are a few more of his comments from this morning's press conference:

A reporter referenced Jets running back Leon Washington's season-ending injury robbing him of his barganing power as a free agent and asked Jeter if a potential injury would affect his own:
"Day 1 is to do everything you possibly can to help the team win in that particular year. I don't think you can play trying to think about not getting hurt."

On whether he can forsee getting to free agency and other teams making offers to him:
"The best way to answer it is I don't know how to answer it. I've never been a free agent and never wanted to be a free agent. This is where I want to be. I've never envisioned myself playing anywhere else and hopefully I don't have to."

On if he thinks there's a chance he and the Yankees can negotiate a deal in the present time:
"No because Casey [agent Casey Close] reached out to (Brian Cashman) in the offseason to see if there's going to be any dialogue. We were told with the new policy that's in place that there won't be any negotiation until the season's over with. That's their stance and I'm fine with it. I signed a long deal and this is the last season of that deal. They have the right to make any rules they want."

On what message he and the rest of the "Core Four" will deliver to the rest of the team:
"Last year is over. It sounds kind of harsh but that's the bottom line. What we accomplished last year has no bearing on this season. You can't say teams are trying to beat you more because I think teams are always tyring to beat you. It's a mindset you have to have. Winning a championship is tough enough. To win in back-to back years is even harder to do. You have to have the mindset that last year is finished and let's move on, and let's try to accomplish something this year, something we haven't done. And we haven't won a championship in 2010."