Why Alex Rodriguez will stay vs. Why Alex Rodriguez will go

Now that the Yankees' season is over, does that mean Alex Rodriguez's Bronx career is finished as well? Regardless of how things turn out this winter, there are a number of factors to consider.

Why A-Rod will stay:

Money. Lots of it.

A-Rod is owed another $114 million for the next five years, and that's a huge obstacle to any deal. He also has full no-trade protection, and that often can be a significant hurdle when looking for a match. If the Yankees can't get the Marlins or Dodgers involved -- two teams Rodriguez is likely to OK in a trade -- that would hinder their efforts to trade him. Plus, Rodriguez is 37, he's been on the DL five times in the last five years, and his stunning inability to hit righthanded pitchers during the past month is not something that inspires confidence in his aging talents.

If A-Rod is the starting third baseman for the Yankees next season, it will be mostly by default. By benching him three times in a span of five games and pinch hitting for him three times during this postseason, Joe Girardi -- with the backing of the front office -- has made it crystal clear what he thinks of Rodriguez. This relationship could use a cooling-off period, however, and the next four months will help heal any hurt feelings when both sides realize they'll be stuck with each other.

Why A-Rod will go:

It's looking like that time.

When Rodriguez re-upped with the Yankees for that 10-year extension, everyone knew there would be a day of reckoning. They just didn't expect it to happen quite this soon -- or this suddenly. Now that it's here, the Yankees are treating A-Rod like a $275-million eyesore, and if they want him gone badly enough, something can always be worked out. It's just a matter of how much salary Brian Cashman is willing to eat.

The trusty bad-contract swap -- trading your problem for somebody else's -- is one way of making it happen. Would the Marlins be willing to build a package around malcontent closer Heath Bell, who is due $18 million through 2014? Maybe the Dodgers could flip the rehabbing Carl Crawford ($102.5 million left) to the Bronx to help offset A-Rod's prohibitive cost? The Yankees so desperately needed to be rid of A.J. Burnett that they paid $18 million of the $31 million left on his contract, so that shows how people can get creative when faced with an unmanageable situation.

If A-Rod were a free agent, this wouldn't even be a debate right now -- he'd be history. Rather than live with the daily distraction again next season, magnified by A-Rod's diminishing skills, it's in the Yankees' best interests to move him. The only question is where.