Alexander Emmanuel Rodriguez Age: 32 Position SS/3B 2007 Salary: $27 million Awards: 2 (and soon to be 3) AL MVPs, 11-time All-Stars, 2 Gold Gloves Potential Destinations: Angels, Giants, Cubs, White Sox, Dodgers, Mets, Red Sox, Tigers Without question, this is the winter of Alex Rodriguez. He is the best all-around player in the game, but he is also the most polarizing and the most scrutinized. Rodriguez will produce amazing annual stats, but he will also create controversy and there is doubt about how he performs in clutch situations. Power Rodriguez has been on an every other year plan as a power hitter during his four seasons in New York. He hit 36 , of course, peaked and dipped the same way: .512/.610/.523/.645. This was following four straight seasons in Seattle and Texas where he slugged at least .600. He is likely to become even more of a pure slugger as he ages, filling out his body and is a shadow of that great all-around player he was during his years in Seattle and Texas. Average Rodriguez is a lifetime .306 hitter, never hitting below .285 in a full season and never above .321 since his monster 1996 when he hit .358. He still strikes out far too often than what a manager would like. In 2007, he struck out once for every 5.9 plate appearances. If he does sign that 12-year contract Scott Boras is seeking, don?t expect him to become that consistent .350 hitter Bonds was in his late 30?s and early 40?s. Rodriguez?s understanding of the strike zone and knowledge of pitchers has always been suspect. Speed Rodriguez is a member of that rare 40-40 class, and he has continued to be a threat on the bases. He averaged 22 steals per season during his four seasons in New York, while only getting thrown out 17% of the time. Defense Rodriguez won Gold Gloves in each of his final two seasons as a shortstop in Texas. He has been far more error prone at third base than he ever was as a shortstop, a much more difficult position. He rebounded from his atrocious defensive 2006 season where he made 24 errors and finished with a .937 fielding percentage by cutting it down to just 13 errors. Boras could say that Rodriguez is still a shortstop and can play the position again, but it has been four seasons since he has, so he'd have to make that adjustment all over again. Rodriguez?s Market New York?s position of refusing to negotiate with him should he opt out of his contract put Rodriguez and Boras in a very difficult position. They either had to negotiate without the influence of offers from other clubs or risk losing the one team that would clearly be able to pay him the richest contract. Yankee fans will permanently hate him now, especially since they begrudgingly were forced to like him and always suspected him to be as phony as a three-dollar bill. Boston fans already hate him, and it is hard to imagine Theo Epstein from deviating from what is a successful business model. But Manny Ramirez will probably not be on the club beyond next season where they can choose not to keep him at their $20 million option. Also, the Yankees are likely to outbid them for Mike Lowell, which could make them more eager to sign Rodriguez. The Giants have been playing under the 1+23 model since 1993 with Bonds, so it would be a natural fit from their perspective, but they are several years away from being a legitimate contender. Omar Minaya will explore the possibility of signing Rodriguez, but it will be as much of an attempt to generate some back pages ink for the Mets as it is genuine interest. The Angels have always been a logical landing spot for Rodriguez, but Arte Moreno has been very vocal about his unwillingness to pay a single player as much money as Rodriguez will command. Ken Williams has expressed great interest in Rodriguez for a long time now, but it would be nearly impossible to convince White Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf to spend that kind of capital on a single player. Meanwhile, the Dodgers just brought in Joe Torre and have expressed interest in Rodriguez. They could easily move Rafael Furcal, which would be necessary since third base is clogged with Nomar Garciaparra and Andy LaRoche. Detroit has an excellent relationship with Boras, but they just gave up two highly touted prospects to acquire Edgar Renteria and have an immovable contract in Brandon Inge. In my estimation, the Cubs would be the most logical place for Rodriguez. He could be reunited with Lou Piniella while playing for a team that qualified for the playoffs, compete in the worst division in the game and are in a highly relevant but ultimately low-pressure situation. Chicago isn?t the easiest place to play, but expectations are far lower than in the Bronx or in Boston. It has now been 100 seasons since the Cubs have won a World Series and delivering that series will mean far more to his baseball immortality than #27 for the Yankees. He would also join Ernie Banks, Ron Santo, Billy Williams and Ryne Sandberg as Cubs' legends, a far less crowded collection than the one in Monument Park.