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SI.com’s Jon Heyman is reporting that the Yankees are “ramping up” their negotiations with captain Derek Jeter, and may now be willing to increase their initial offer by $5 million. So instead of three years, $45 million, the Yankees may offer Jeter three years, $50 million. That still leaves the Yankees and their 36-year-old icon very far apart.

Jeter reportedly originally wanted six years, $150 million, but now we hear he’s looking four or five years at $23 or $24 million per year. So at a minimum, Jeter wants four years, $96 million — leaving a gap of $46 million overall and $6.3 million per year.

The New York Times Bats blog has a pretty convincing theory that Jeter’s main sticking point is his last contract — Jeter just finished a 10-year, $189 million contract that paid him $21 million for his pretty crappy 2010 season. Jeter probably doesn’t want less than $21 million per year, but definitely doesn’t want less than the $18.9 million per year he averaged over the last decade.

I’d be somewhat surprised if Jeter settles for anything less than three years, $64 million, or four years, $76 million. That leaves the Yankees dicking around over perhaps less than another $5 million per year over three years. It seems like being able to get this out of the headlines and to focus on resigning aging legend #2 Mariano Rivera and free agent priority #1 Cliff Lee should be more than worth it for them. The holdup is probably that the Steinbrenner sons have two much of their father’s stubbornness and ego to want to look like they’ve lost at anything.