What's the measure of success? Is the world so black and white that it can be divided between winners and losers? New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter spoke on what matters and doesn't matter in baseball via Bryan Hoch, a beat reporter who's covered the team since 2007.

“It doesn't matter what you do during a 162-game schedule. It all boils down to the World Series. Win a championship or it's a failure.”

With the Yankees closing in on one of their best regular seasons in years and sitting at 76-53 with 33 games left, perhaps Jeter is trying to get ahead of the media narrative that the team should be proud or fulfilled by the accomplishments already accrued.

Jeter wasn't the only Yankees veteran commenting on this Yankees team. CC Sabathia gave some thoughts on Juan Soto's potential free agency and whether winning a title should factor when choosing his destination.

“That's up to him,” Sabathia said about Soto. “My goal going into free agency was going to a place where I could win a World Series. Luckily, that was the place that offered me the most money. I was able to do both.”

Derek Jeter's legacy, the Yankees and what a championship would bring

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What the media remembers about a player or a team is one thing. What an individual believes about themselves, their lives, their accomplishments, etc–that's another thing entirely. Jeter is one of the most decorated sportsman in history. His five titles are tied for the most in the modern era (1980 to present), and all those players were his teammates. So while it makes for a nice soundbite, what matters to Jeter is his business and his alone. He's been known to amp up his own accomplishments in the past, like when he said the 1998 Yankees could beat any team in history.

“You talk about the '98 team, I'm a little biased, but I'd put that team up against any team that's played this game,” Jeter said. “They didn't care about personal statistics. The only thing they cared about was winning.”

While a World Series championship is the goal of every player in every season, hopefully someone like Aaron Judge can appreciate and self-actualize what his and the team's accomplishments mean to him. It's been 15 years since the Yankees won a World Series title. That 2009 World Series championship, led by manager Joe Girardi, came after a 103-59 (.636) regular season.

Jeter might be rooting for a potential matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers, a matchup not seen in the World Series since 1981. The two teams have met for the title 11 times, mostly in the 1940s and 50s. The two titans meeting for a championship would be a huge TV event.