A-Rod ditches Yankees' $252 million contract: Where to now?

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series last night, so what is the baseball world buzzing about today? In the same way that the antics of train wrecks like Britney Spears steal headlines away from others with worthy accomplishments, we are writing about the Yankees and their messy divorce from future Hall-of-Famer Alex Rodriguez. Yesterday, A-Rod's agent, Scott Boras, announced that the third-sacker would take his option to terminate his 10-year, $252 million contract early and put himself up for auction.

In the typical classy Yankee way, Steinbrenner the Lesser, Hank, took the opportunity to blast the player, telling the New York Daily News, "He doesn't understand the privilege of being a Yankee on a team where the owners are willing to pay $200 million to put a winning product on the field."

After years of being crucified by the New York press, fans and front office for failing to hit enough to overcome a minor-league starting rotation and a gaggle of overpaid, over-aged teammates, who wouldn't want out?

The question now is who will step forward to pay A-Rod more than his previous contract? No other team enjoys the Yankees' attendance or media income. Fortunately, we're not talking Wall Street, but baseball, and business economics are not its forte. Remember that A-Rod signed his huge contract with Texas, who, when they came back to their senses and realized they couldn't cover that salary, were forced to deal him to New York while agreeing still to cover part of his salary.

Boras, known as the superagent, is too shrewd to make such a move without confidence that a least a couple of teams will contend to sign the best player in baseball. The Chicago Cubs could use his talents, although last year's signing of Alfonso Soriano tied up a lot of Chicago's cash. The Cubs could also go on the block soon, as well, and a lot of debt might not help that.