Has A-Rod Played His Last Game in Yankees Pinstripes?

I'm listening and watching and reading… for what team will Alex Rodriguez be striking out next year?

This, for sure, seems destined at this point to be THE story of the hot stove league.

Rumors began circulating Wednesday, apparently by the always reliable Keith Olbermann, about a possible off-season trade that would send A-Rod to Miami – he lives there, ya know? – with the Yankees eating much of his $114 million remaining salary.

Are the Yankees really so sick of the guy that they'd consider sucking it up and moving on, paying him to play for another team? If you believe the reports, it sure appears that way.

And if it happens – the trade to Miami, that is, who do Yankees fans want from the Marlins roster in return? Did I really hear someone on the radio this morning mention Heather Bell? Really?

I'm still in wait and see mode, but with A-Rod getting benched for what will be three consecutive starts in ALCS Game 4 tonight – in favor of a guy who's batting oh-for-12 in the postseason – it's becoming increasing difficult to see how the Yankees and A-Rod can come back together in spring training like nothing ever happened, like right handed pitchers ceased to exist over the winter.

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By the way, Bob Nightengale has a story on usatoday.com saying A-Rod, who has a full no-trade clause, is telling friends (and cute bikini models in the stands?) he will not block a trade, but will only go to a large-market team. That seams fair. I never saw a pending reunion between A-Rod and A.J. Burnett happening in Pittsburgh.

But where will Rodriguez end up if the Yankees can and will pull the trigger on a trade? Could it be Miami? Dodgers? Angels? White Sox? Cubs? None of those seem logical, but who knows?

Dodgers Gone Wild

I do believe the new owners of the Los Angeles Dodgers have lost their collective minds.

The story out today is the Dodgers, after already completing a mega-deal with the Boston Red Sox last week, called the New York Yankees about possibly trading for pitcher CC Sabathia and first baseman Mark Teixiera. (Did they call the Yanks or send a Tex message?)

Do the Dodgers owners think they can just buy any player they want? Maybe they can when they strike a new local TV deal that could be worth as much as $8.5 billion over 20 years. So that $2 billion the new owners paid for the team was just a virtual drop in the ol' bucket, eh?

Hey, do you think the Dodgers would be willing to take Tim Tebow? And maybe the Jets could get back A.J. Ellis in the trade. I bet he'd be the second best receiver on the team.

Anyway, I'm guessing that when the Dodgers called Yankees' General Manager Brian Cashman, the conversation could have ended something like this:

Cashman: “Hey, we can’t give you CC or Tex, but we have this A-Rod fella we’re going to be paying for the next five years…”

Dodgers: Click

Cashman: “Hello? Anyone there?”