In ranking Jeter, why ignore Banks, Yount, Rodriguez?

Ernie Banks, Robin Count and Alex Rodriguez were all MVP shortstops, Banks twice, before changing positions in the middle of their careers: Banks to first, Yount to center (another MVP), Rodriguez to third (two more MVP).

In all the adulation and evaluation of Derek Jeter, who has played the field only at shortstop, why not include the shortstop portions of those three careers?  The current consensus seems to be that Jeter is second only to Cal Ripken among post WWII (World War 2; after 1945) shortstops.  Jeter is the better hitter, Ripken the better fielder.

Among all shortstops (at least 75% of games) from 1903 through 2013, seasons sorted by OPS+:

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Honus Wagner	205	1908	34	PIT	NL	151	641	568	100	201	39	19	10	109	54		22	5	14			53		.354	.415	.542	.957	*6
2	Arky Vaughan	190	1935	23	PIT	NL	137	609	499	108	192	34	10	19	99	97		18	7	7		5	4		.385	.491	.607	1.098	*6
3	Honus Wagner	188	1904	30	PIT	NL	132	558	490	97	171	44	14	4	75	59		44	4	5			53		.349	.423	.520	.944	*6/7384
4	Honus Wagner	187	1907	33	PIT	NL	142	580	515	98	180	38	14	6	82	46		40	5	14			61		.350	.408	.513	.921	*6/3
5	Honus Wagner	177	1909	35	PIT	NL	137	591	495	92	168	39	10	5	100	66		24	3	27			35		.339	.420	.489	.909	*6/7
6	Honus Wagner	175	1905	31	PIT	NL	147	616	548	114	199	32	14	6	101	54		53	7	7			57		.363	.427	.505	.932	*6/7
7	Rogers Hornsby	169	1917	21	STL	NL	145	588	523	86	171	24	17	8	66	45		34	4	17			17		.327	.385	.484	.868	*6
8	Rico Petrocelli	168	1969	26	BOS	AL	154	643	535	92	159	32	2	40	97	98	13	68	1	3	6	12	3	5	.297	.403	.589	.992	*6/5
9	Honus Wagner	168	1906	32	PIT	NL	142	590	516	103	175	38	9	2	71	58		31	10	6			53		.339	.416	.459	.875	*6/95
10	Robin Yount	166	1982	26	MIL	AL	156	704	635	129	210	46	12	29	114	54	2	63	1	4	10	19	14	3	.331	.379	.578	.957	*6/HD

Yount's 1982 MVP season is number ten all time.

From 1903-2013 there have been these number of shortstop seasons with OPS+ greater than or equal to:
175: 6
160: 16
150: 27
140: 54
130: 96
120: 175

Top 25 shortstop seasons 1946-2013:

Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Rico Petrocelli	168	1969	26	BOS	AL	154	643	535	92	159	32	2	40	97	98	13	68	1	3	6	12	3	5	.297	.403	.589	.992	*6/5
2	Robin Yount	166	1982	26	MIL	AL	156	704	635	129	210	46	12	29	114	54	2	63	1	4	10	19	14	3	.331	.379	.578	.957	*6/HD
3	Lou Boudreau	165	1948	30	CLE	AL	152	676	560	116	199	34	6	18	106	98		9	2	16		15	3	2	.355	.453	.534	.987	*6/H2
4	Alex Rodriguez	163	2000	24	SEA	AL	148	672	554	134	175	34	2	41	132	100	5	121	7	0	11	10	15	4	.316	.420	.606	1.026	*6
5	Cal Ripken	162	1991	30	BAL	AL	162	717	650	99	210	46	5	34	114	53	15	46	5	0	9	19	6	1	.323	.374	.566	.940	*6
6	Alex Rodriguez	161	1996	20	SEA	AL	146	677	601	141	215	54	1	36	123	59	1	104	4	6	7	15	15	4	.358	.414	.631	1.045	*6/H
7	Alex Rodriguez	160	2001	25	TEX	AL	162	732	632	133	201	34	1	52	135	75	6	131	16	0	9	17	18	3	.318	.399	.622	1.021	*6/D
8	Alex Rodriguez	158	2002	26	TEX	AL	162	725	624	125	187	27	2	57	142	87	12	122	10	0	4	14	9	4	.300	.392	.623	1.015	*6/H
9	Nomar Garciaparra	156	2000	26	BOS	AL	140	599	529	104	197	51	3	21	96	61	20	50	2	0	7	8	5	2	.372	.434	.599	1.033	*6/HD
10	Ernie Banks	156	1959	28	CHC	NL	155	671	589	97	179	25	6	45	143	64	20	72	7	2	9	18	2	4	.304	.374	.596	.970	*6/H
11	Barry Larkin	155	1996	32	CIN	NL	152	627	517	117	154	32	4	33	89	96	3	52	7	0	7	20	36	10	.298	.410	.567	.977	*6/H
12	Alan Trammell	155	1987	29	DET	AL	151	668	597	109	205	34	3	28	105	60	8	47	3	2	6	11	21	2	.343	.402	.551	.953	*6/H
13	Ernie Banks	155	1958	27	CHC	NL	154	682	617	119	193	23	11	47	129	52	12	87	4	1	8	14	4	4	.313	.366	.614	.980	*6
14	Nomar Garciaparra	153	1999	25	BOS	AL	135	595	532	103	190	42	4	27	104	51	7	39	8	0	4	11	14	3	.357	.418	.603	1.022	*6/H
15	Derek Jeter	153	1999	25	NYY	AL	158	739	627	134	219	37	9	24	102	91	5	116	12	3	6	12	19	8	.349	.438	.552	.989	*6
16	Robin Yount	150	1983	27	MIL	AL	149	662	578	102	178	42	10	17	80	72	6	58	3	1	8	11	12	5	.308	.383	.503	.886	*6/DH
17	Hanley Ramirez	148	2009	25	FLA	NL	151	652	576	101	197	42	1	24	106	61	14	101	9	1	5	9	27	8	.342	.410	.543	.954	*6/H
18	Dick McAuliffe	148	1966	26	DET	AL	124	506	430	83	118	16	8	23	56	66	2	80	3	4	3	7	5	7	.274	.373	.509	.882	*65H
19	Alex Rodriguez	147	2003	27	TEX	AL	161	715	607	124	181	30	6	47	118	87	10	126	15	0	6	16	17	3	.298	.396	.600	.995	*6/HD
20	Rich Aurilia	146	2001	29	SFG	NL	156	689	636	114	206	37	5	37	97	47	2	83	0	3	3	14	1	3	.324	.369	.572	.941	*6/H
21	Cal Ripken	146	1984	23	BAL	AL	162	716	641	103	195	37	7	27	86	71	1	89	2	0	2	16	2	1	.304	.374	.510	.884	*6
22	Ernie Banks	146	1960	29	CHC	NL	156	678	597	94	162	32	7	41	117	71	28	69	4	0	6	14	1	3	.271	.350	.554	.904	*6
23	Hanley Ramirez	145	2007	23	FLA	NL	154	706	639	125	212	48	6	29	81	52	3	95	7	4	4	10	51	14	.332	.386	.562	.948	*6/HD
24	Toby Harrah	145	1975	26	TEX	AL	151	632	522	81	153	24	1	20	93	98	3	71	1	6	4	7	23	9	.293	.403	.458	.861	*654/H
25	Jose Reyes	144	2011	28	NYM	NL	126	586	537	101	181	31	16	7	44	43	9	41	0	2	4	5	39	7	.337	.384	.493	.877	*6/H
Rk	Player	OPS+	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
26	Cal Ripken	144	1983	22	BAL	AL	162	726	663	121	211	47	2	27	102	58	0	97	0	0	5	24	0	4	.318	.371	.517	.888	*6
27	Ernie Banks	144	1955	24	CHC	NL	154	646	596	98	176	29	9	44	117	45	6	72	2	0	3	16	9	3	.295	.345	.596	.941	*6

Jeter is on this list once: number 15.  Ranks of multiples:
Rodriguez: 4, 6, 7, 8, 19
Banks: 9, 11, 20, 25
Ripken: 5, 20, 25
Yount: 2, 16
Garciaparra: 9, 14
Ramirez: 17, 23

Garciaparra, Jeter and Rodriguez all started about the same time and were the big three shortstops who could hit, field and run.  From 1996 through 2003 Garciaparra was number two behind Rodriguez.  In his first full season of 1997 Garciaparra led in AB, Hits, 3B; RoY, MVP-8; second in MVP in 1998.  Led in BA 1999, 2000: .357, .372.

In 2004 Garciaparra was injured and traded during the season.  His Red Sox went on to win the championship for the first time since 1918 when they had Babe Ruth, thus breaking the curse.  Before the 2004 season Texas tried to trade Rodriguez to Boston but the players union objected to Rodriguez agreeing to have his ten year Texas contract restructured to accommodate Boston.  The Yankees suddenly had a need at third base when Aaron Boone was injured during the off season.  Texas then traded Rodriguez to the Yankees for Alfonso Soriano.  Yankee manager Joe Torre switched Rodriguez from shortstop to third and kept Jeter at short.  Rodriguez was generally regarded to be a better fielder than Jeter and obviously Rodriguez was a better hitter.

Let's compare the truncated shortstop careers of these players to Jeter.  Ripken is included for fun; he has two listings: one for his time as a shortstop, which went to age 35, and another that has a comparable number of PA to make it relevant to the others.  Garciaparra is also included for fun; he continued as a shortstop after leaving the Red Sox but is not a serious contender to Jeter.  Garciaparra's OPS+ peeked at 140 in 2000; career 124.

player	Year	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	SB	CS	BB	SO	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	OPS+	TB	GDP	HBP	SH	SF	IBB
Banks	1961	30	1,216	5,205	4,670	751	1,355	210	59	298	858	37	39	452	577	0.29	0.353	0.552	0.905	138	2,577	103	29	10	44	116
Yount	1984	28	1,549	6,621	6,049	885	1,727	323	72	129	713	142	60	424	651	0.286	0.331	0.427	0.757	113	2,581	120	14	73	61	28
Ripken	1996	35	2,381	10,329	9,217	1,366	2,549	487	43	353	1,369	35	34	960	1,033	0.277	0.345	0.454	0.798	117	4,181	283	49	4	99	100
Rodriguez	2003	27	1,275	5,687	4,989	1,009	1,535	285	22	345	990	177	46	559	995	0.308	0.382	0.581	0.963	144	2,899	110	72	16	51	37
Jeter	2003	29	1,212	5,523	4,870	926	1,546	239	41	127	615	178	48	513	873	0.317	0.389	0.462	0.851	121	2,248	103	78	34	28	18
Garciaparra	2003	29	928	4,176	3,812	685	1,231	272	47	173	669	82	28	271	390	0.323	0.37	0.555	0.925	134	2,116	76	42	4	47	35
Ripken	1989	28	1,315	5,680	5,055	793	1,402	266	24	204	744	19	22	553	635	0.277	0.347	0.461	0.808	123	2,328	162	16	2	54	22

Rodriguez and Banks are the best hitters.  Jeter's hitting is comparable to Ripken through 1989 one year before Ripken won his second MVP.

Yount's standing is more difficult to judge.  His MVP season is clearly better than any season that Jeter ever had.  Jeter's best hitting season was 1999 but he led only in PA and Hits.  Other than PA and AB, Jeter's only other "black ink": Hits in 2012, Runs 1998.

 MVP seasons led league in:

Banks:
1958: G, AB, HR, RBI, SLG, TB
1959: G, RBI.

Yount:
1982: Hits, 2B, SLG, OPS, OPS+, TB    shortstop
1989: zip:    center field

Ripken:
1983: G, PA, AB, Runs, Hits, 2B
1990: G, TB

Rodriguez:
2003: Runs, HR, SLG    shortstop
2005: G, Runs, HR, SLG, OPS, OPS+    third base
2007: Runs, HR, RBI, SLG, OPS, OPS+, TB    third base

What if Torre had done what many Yankee fans wanted at the time: moved Jeter and played Rodriguez at shortstop?  I had long thought that Jeter was a natural center fielder, better than teammate Bernie Williams.  That would have been a natural move.  If Jeter could have made that transition and stayed in center for most of the rest of his career, he might have wound up like Yount and been regarded as a Hall of Fame player.  But if Jeter moved to second, that would have lowered his value as would moving to left field or third base where a power hitter is preferred.  I think moving to left would have ruined Jeter for the Hall and he might have already stopped playing for the Yankees.

What about Rodriguez staying at short?  Rodriguez could have lasted a few more seasons but as he bulked up and became less flexible, he would have moved, probably to third where his power would still make him an exceptionable value.  By then, Jeter could not have returned to short.

How would the Yankees have done with Rodriguez at short and Jeter at another position?  Probably at least as well.  In those years it was starting pitching that was not good enough.

And what if Banks, Yount and Rodriguez had all retired rather than move to different positions?  Would they make the Hall of Fame?  Since ten seasons are required, technically Banks would not have qualified 1953-1961.  But Rodriguez (1994-2003) and Yount (1974-1984) would.  Let's say that Banks had played part of another season.  I think both Banks and Rodriguez would be elected easily.  Yount probably but less certain.

What if Jeter and Ripken had stopped playing at comparable points?  Ripken would have one MVP but Ripken would not have broken the record for consecutive games played set by Lou Gehrig.  Jeter would have been a member of four championship teams, not five, same as teammate Bernie Williams.  I think that Ripken's chances would be about the same as Yount's.  Jeter would probably not make it.

If Rodriguez had stayed at shortstop through his third MVP season of 2007, he would be regarded as at least the second greatest shortstop of all time, behind only Honus Wagner (1897-1917).  Rodriguez voluntarily agreed to switch positions when he joined the Yankees in 2004, seemingly without resentment.  That should be considered when taking his measure.

Finally, what if Jeter and Rodriguez had played for each other's teams?  Would the Yankees have won at least as many championships as they did with Jeter?  Would Seattle have beaten the Yankees in the 2000 tournament with Jeter at short?