Right, I think he does mean greatest SS of all time and I can understand why any conversation on that subject might include Jeter, he is definitely on the short list. ARod was certainly in the running to displace Wagner, who IMO was the greatest as well, early on in his career. However, I think he gets much, to much credit, for moving over to 3rd base. Here is what I think about ARod: I think that if he had decided to simply play ball and not do all of the things he eventually did do in order to chase the long ball power, he probably does end up being the greatest SS of all time. However, that is not what he did. He traded that for power by doing all the things he did to change his body to allow for more power. Once that process started, he started moving away from his natural abilities and eventually becoming the greatest SS of all time. That was his choice and I believe it cost him. While both players eventually declined in the later years, I believe that ARod's abilities were basically masked by moving to third base. I believe that Jeter played longer and better at SS then would have ARod. ARod was in serious decline for the last several years, in terms of his ability to field his position. If you look at his Range Stats, later in his career, you will see that they fall off dramatically. Now, you can attribute some of this to position change but not all of it. With Jeter, you didn't have that. He played his position at a very high efficiency level for most of his career.
IMO, Wagner, Banks, Ripkin, Ozzie, Yount, Larkin, Conception, Bowa and a few others, along with Jeter and ARod, are in the discussion but IMO, it's still Wagner.
JMO
