X-Rod

Take your pick.

Angels? Dodgers? Red Sox?

Keep guessing.

Tigers? Cubs? Giants?

Who knows.

When it comes to the 2008 hometown of baseball's best player, there only appears to be one certainty: it won't be New York. But not so fast.

After Alex Rodriguez slapped us all in the face by announcing his decision to opt out of his contract with the Yankees during game four of the World Series, Mets third baseman David Wright says he's willing move to second base--were New York's NL team to acquire A-Rod. Still, that doesn't mean the Mets have anything locked up. It's merely a reason to add the Mets to the laundry list of teams drooling over baseball's biggest free agent ever. All we know is that he won't be a Yankee. Beyond that, good luck guessing. As Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times put it yesterday:

"[O]n the first day of the A-Rod shopping season, an executive with one American League team interested in signing him let out a sigh, a herald of the off-season to come, full of juicy rumors and outrageous dollars and mystery teams.

"'The circus has begun,' the executive said Monday."

After hitting 54 home runs, driving in 156, and scoring an additional 143...just think about those numbers for a second...Alex Rodriguez and super-agent Scott Boras are in line to command the most lucrative contract in baseball history, and for good reason. He's a lock to receive his third MVP award for his 2007 performance. In search of a long-term contract, Alex Rodriguez will likely break Barry Bonds' tainted home run record with the next team that signs him. Plus, at 32 years old, he shows no signs of slowing down. Rodriguez has played in at least 148 games each of the past 8 seasons, notching a full 162 games three times, in addition to 161 games with Texas in 2003. Bottom line: He will produce for whomever he plays--the key word being whomever.

Whatever may happen, expect irony. Angels owner Arte Moreno has said he couldn't imagine paying any one player more than $20 million per year, but he would have to pay A-Rod much more. And with a thinning starting rotation, the Angels might need to invest elsewhere. But don't write him off just yet, Anaheim. According to today's article by the Times' Mike DiGiovanna,

"(A) factor improving the Angels' chances of signing Rodriguez: They could clear $18 million after 2008 by letting Anderson and Cabrera go and free up $4.75 million by trading Chone Figgins. An increase in ticket prices should also boost revenue."

The Dodgers seem to have bigger things to worry about, according to Shaikin:

"The Dodgers are a mess, with ownership flirting with replacements for a manager while they already have one. In the final week of the season, General Manager Ned Colletti said he would not talk about Rodriguez until he opted out. But Colletti did not return calls Monday and has not returned calls since the end of the season, so you wonder if ownership might be flirting with replacements for him too."

The Red Sox? 'Nuff said.

Shaikin presents perhaps the most interesting idea of all:

"How about the Florida Marlins, Rodriguez's hometown team? They could trade third baseman Miguel Cabrera for three top players, build around A-Rod and shortstop Hanley Ramirez and contend in the National League East.

"So A-Rod might cost $30 million a year. The Marlins receive about $30 million a year in revenue sharing. Imagine that, Hank Steinbrenner: You could be paying Rodriguez to play for the Marlins."

Whatever happens, don't rush to stick a label A-Rod's next hometown. Teams can't even negotiate financial terms until Nov. 13. Until then, the man without a home (or, the man with a home everywhere beyond the Bronx) might as well be called X-Rod.