Jeter has played a role for the Yankees since 1996. Jeter is one of three current veterans (the others are Jorge Posada and Mariano Rivera) who came up through the Yankees organization, and has played his entire professional career with the Yankees. As the Yankees Shortstop, he is currently the longest-serving position player on the team. As of his current contract, Derek earns $22 million a year in salary, and is the second highest paid endorser in baseball having earned $7 million in endorsements in 2006.[7] Also, he was ranked as the most marketable player in baseball according to an 2005 Sports Business Survey. [8]

Regular Season
On May 29, 1995, Jeter made his debut in the Major Leagues against the Seattle Mariners in the Kingdome. He got his first major league hit the following day off veteran pitcher Tim Belcher, and started 13 games before being sent back down to the minors.
He returned on Opening Day of the 1996 season as the starting shortstop (the first Yankee rookie since Tom Tresh in 1962 to do so) and hit his first major-league home run on that day. Coincidentally, his home run was called by another former Yankee shortstop, the late Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto, with whom Jeter would get guidance from whenever the two met. Jeter played his way to a successful rookie season, hitting for a .314 batting average, 10 home runs, and 78 runs batted in and subsequently earning Rookie of the Year honors.
In 1999 Jeter led the AL in hits (219), and was 2nd in the league in batting average (.349) and runs (134). Jeter (who batted 3rd in the lineup part of the year) also drove in 102 runs, becoming only the 2nd Yankee shortstop ever to do so. (Lyn Lary had driven in 107 runs in 1931).
In 2000, Jeter became the first player ever to win the All-Star Game MVP award and the World Series MVP Award in the same year. Jeter became the first Yankee since Yogi Berra, in 1959, to hit a home run in the All Star Game (Alfonso Soriano then hit one in 2001).
At the 2001 World Series, Jeter hit the MLB's first November home run.
In 2003, Jeter started the season by dislocating his left shoulder on opening day after being named captain of the Yankees, March 31, at the SkyDome in Toronto. He ended up missing the next 36 games. However, he still led the major leagues in batting average on balls in play that year (.380).[9]
The beginning of the 2004 season saw Jeter mired in a slump; on May 25, he was hitting only .189. This included a personal career record 0-for-32 skid in April. In June, however, Jeter broke out of his slump. He hit nearly .400 for the month and set a personal best with 9 home runs. He finished the season with a .292 average and 23 home runs, the 2nd most of his career, as well as 44 doubles, which set a single-season record by a Yankee shortstop, besting Tony Kubek's 38 in 1961.

Derek Jeter against the Colorado Rockies
In 2005 he was 2nd in the AL in runs (122) and batting average on balls in play (.394), and 3rd in the league in at bats (654) and hits (202).
In 2006 Jeter led the major leagues in highest groundball/flyball ratio (3.23; 313/97) and batting average on balls in play (.394), and tied for the American League lead in steals of third base (12). He was 2nd in the league in batting average (.343) and runs scored (118), 3rd in hits (214), SB success % (87.2), and batting average with runners in scoring position (.381), and 5th in infield hits (26). He finished 2nd in American League MVP voting to Justin Morneau of the Minnesota Twins (320 points to 306 points). Jeter has finished in the top 10 in the MVP balloting 6 times in his 11 full seasons through 2006 (including also a 3rd place finish in 1998).
As of August 25, 2007, Derek was named the Face of the Yankees by staff and fan voters on ESPN.com. One day before the Yankees completed what was thought of as an improbable comeback by winning a playoff spot on September 26, Jeter reached 200 hits for the 6th season, and the third consecutive, tying former Yankee great Lou Gehrig.
In 2007, Jeter was 3rd in the AL in hits (203), 4th in at bats (639) and plate appearances (714), 6th in times on base (276), 7th in hit by pitch (14), and 9th in batting average (.322; along with Pedro Guerrero, the only ballplayers who were in the top 10 in the league in batting each year from 2005-07). He also was involved in a career-high 104 double plays, and his 4.02 range factor was the lowest of all AL shortstops, and his .765 zone rating was the lowest among all major league shortstops