Derek Jeter to have surgery on broken left ankle, 4 to 5 months for recovery

DETROIT Derek Jeter will have surgery on his broken left ankle, and the New York Yankees say he is expected to need four to five months to completely recover.

The Yankees said Wednesday that Jeter will be operated on Saturday by Dr. Robert Anderson in Charlotte, N.C. The timetable the team announced means Jeter likely would be ready to return to baseball sometime between the start of spring training in mid-February and late spring training in mid-March.

Jeter, the Yankees' 38-year-old captain, broke his ankle Saturday in the 12th inning of the AL championship series opener while trying to field a ground ball.

The Yankees did not say whether there was any ligament damage.

When Jeter broke his ankle, the original estimate was that he would need three months to recover, CBSSports.com's Danny Knobler notes. When the Yankees announced Wednesday that Jeter has elected to have surgery, they changed that estimate to 4-5 months for what they called a "complete recovery."