Derek Jeter’s World Series pick will have Yankees fans in their feelings

The New York Yankees ended the first half with a 58-40 record. Yes, they stumbled to the finish to end the half even with their recent series win over the Baltimore Orioles, but they ended the half just a full game back of Baltimore for first place in the AL East.

A lot has gone wrong for the Yankees over the last month or so, but there's no denying the talent that they have. When healthy, they have arguably the best offensive duo with Juan Soto and Aaron Judge hitting second and third every night. They have an elite rotation on paper with arguably the best pitcher in the game, Gerrit Cole, when he's healthy. Even Clay Holmes when he is right is really tough to hit late in games.

There's work for Brian Cashman to do at the trade deadline, mainly to acquire a leadoff hitter and improve the bullpen, but with the right moves, there's no reason to believe this Yankees team can't make a deep postseason run.

Former Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez certainly thinks they have it in them, as he picked New York to win the World Series over the Los Angeles Dodgers. The other former Yankee doing the FOX postgame, Derek Jeter, wasn't quite as confident. His World Series pick is not one Yankees fans will appreciate.

Yankees fans won't like Derek Jeter's World Series pick

Jeter picks the team New York defeated in the 2009 World Series, the Philadelphia Phillies, over New York's biggest threat in the AL East right now, the Orioles, That's his predicted World Series matchup right now. A division rival against a Philadelphia team. Yikes!

His reasoning makes a whole lot of sense for both team. The Phillies pick came down to just how well they've played.

"As it sits now, the Philadelphia Phillies are the best team in baseball in my opinion."

It isn't just Jeter's opinion. Record-wise, the Phillies are the best team in baseball. They've been able to sustain their high level of play despite injuries to some of their key offensive players. They'll only become scarier when they add at the deadline.

As for the Orioles, that pick is more about what's to come.

"The Orioles minor league system is stacked, and they're the team that's in the best position at the trade deadline."

The Orioles ended the first half as the leaders in the AL East, and Jeter is predicting that they make their team substantially better by trading some of their best prospects. If the Orioles are aggressive and do trade from their loaded farm system, then it'd be really hard to disagree with his opinion.

If we're being real, until the Yankees really start to play better, the Orioles will be favored. It's on not only the players to step up, but Brian Cashman to make big moves to get this team where the fan base expects them to be. If he does, there's a good chance Jeter will change his tune. Until then, it's on the organization he loves to prove itself.