McAdam: Jeter Downs on The Trade, a family reunion and the 'other' Jeter

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- To suggest it has been a whirlwind week for infielder Jeter Downs would be a great understatement.

Downs was readying to fly from his winter training base near Miami to report to the Los Angeles Dodgers spring training home in Arizona when he got a call from the Dodgers, notifying him that he had included in the mega-deal with the Red Sox which sent Mookie Betts and David Price to L.A.

That would be upheaval enough for any young player, but when your first name is Jeter and you've been dealt to the Boston Red Sox, well...

"Obviously, I've been getting bombarded with this whole 'name thing,'" said Downs. "It's pretty cool.

Ah, yes. The "name thing."



Downs was indeed named after the Yankee legend, despite the fact that his father was -- and remains -- a Red Sox fan. He said his mother was chiefly responsible for his name.

''She knew what she was doing when she named me Jeter,'' said Downs. "I have an older brother (Jerry), who is here (as a Red Sox minor league first baseman) and he was named after my dad. She just loved (Derek) Jeter, how he was and the way he played the game. So, she gave me the name. I can't even count the number of times (the origin of the name) has come up. Look how it's turned around now, huh?''

Downs, naturally, gravitated toward the Hall of Fame shortstop and followed him closely.

"I had the name, so I kind of had to be a fan of his,'' Downs said. "I idolized him, just the way he played, the way he went about the game and the things he did and how he was respected by every single team. It was pretty cool as a kid -- I don't care what team you're from. It's cool to watch a guy like that play the game and grow.''

Downs has never met Jeter in person, but last week, while in south Florida, he and Jerry driving in traffic. Jerry noticed a Range Rover and saw that it was Jeter driving. The Downs honked at Jeter and waved. Later, training with Raul Ibanez (a former teammate of Jeter's in New York) and he asked Ibanez to get in touch with the Hall of Famer and let him know that "another" Jeter had been waving to him.

"It was pretty cool,'' he said.

Not long after, the Marlins had a golfing event in the community and a friend of Jeter Downs attended. He corraled Derek Jeter briefly and the two Jeters spoke via FaceTime.

"We talked for like two minutes,'' Downs said, "and he said he had been watching (me) and we talked about some little nuances and stuff like that. I've idolized him my whole life and it was cool to meet him and get to talk to him.''

Downs is still trying to wrap his head around all that's gone on in the last week -- from getting introduced to his hero and changing teams.

"It's pretty cool to be part of something this big,'' he said of the trade. "But you still have to go out and play baseball. I try not to think of it as being that big of a deal and just try to focus on the things that I need to do on the field.''

Downs grew up as a shortstop, but has also played second base in the Dodgers' organization. That's his likely position here, with Xander Bogaerts laying claim to short for the next six years at a minimum.

"Honestly, I don't care where I'm playing as long as I'm helping the team win,'' he said. "I'll be in the outfield if that's what we need to win and make things happen. It's cool to be (in big league camp) and learn from all of these guys and get better.''

Naturally, he's also excited to be joining his brother.

"I was playing catch with him and I was just like, 'Wow, we're wearing the same uniform,' '' he said. "It's pretty surreal that things have turned out this way. We always mentioned, 'Oh, it would be pretty cool to play on the same team,' but you didn't think about it (too much). Now, it's come to fruition. It's pretty interesting.

"My dad is actually a Red Sox fan so he's so happy that both of us are here right now. To be completely honest, I was a Yankee fan but obviously now, I'm going to do everything in my power to win, (even) if the Yankees are on the other side or whoever it is.''