Is it possible that it's about more than just money? Amid rampant reports that Alex Rodriguez opted out of the last three years of his ten-year $252 million contract with the New York Yankees, taken over from the Texas Rangers after his three years there from 2001-2003, it appears that A-Rod is leaving the money on the table and the Yankees in the dust. But why? There are several possible answers to that question. The first and foremost is that he will likely fetch at least as much money if not more by opting out and testing free agency again, even possibly from the Yankees themselves. But that doesn't answer everything. In this case, money might be only one factor. A-Rod's four years in New York, despite superb statistics, were fraught with problems. First off, A-Rod is and always has been a natural shortshop, a position he never could have played on the Yankees with Derek Jeter, one of the greatest all-time Yankees, firmly in place at that spot. A-Rod's move to third base wasn't a full-scale disaster, but it wasn't an ideal situation for him. He made 24 errors there in 2006 and made 62 in his four years as a Yankee. It's only natural that he would want to return to shortstop, which means leaving NY. Next, the expectations put upon A-Rod were huge. He was signed to return the Yankees to the World Series, and he did get them into the playoffs in each of his four seasons there. But what he has to show for it is a total choke and unsportsmanlike play in the last four games - all losses with two at home - to the Boston Red Sox in the AL LCS in 2004. In 2005, 2006 and 2007, all ending in losses in the division series, he had seven hits in 44 at bats (.159), with one home run and one RBI, not exactly matching his regular season stats. The onus was on A-Rod to exceed expectations and, until this season, he suffered the merciless boos of the unforgiving Yankee fans. Should he change teams, unless it's to the crosstown Mets or Philadelphia, he won't likely hear the boos, at least not as loudly when he fails to regularly produce. Another factor is that A-Rod is no longer the young athlete that he was when he came into the league on the Seattle Mariners in 1994. When he started his first full season two years later, he was all of 20. Now 32, A-Rod probably has different feelings for how he'll be remembered as a player, and with the microscope always on him as a Yankee, he wasn't ever able to relax and enjoy the game for what it was. Also, the Yankees were always Jeter's team, and only a year older than A-Rod, there was probably sour feelings between the two players and understandable jealousy on A-Rod's part about Jeter's leadership. So where does that leave A-Rod, who is sure to be the AL MVP for 2007? At this stage of his career, with eleven full seasons in the AL, it would be difficult to imagine him in a National League uniform, forced to learn the pitchers all over again in a pitching-rich league. That leaves AL teams with the need of a shortstop who could pay the $25-$30 million annually that A-Rod will fetch. Only the White Sox, Boston and the LA Angels fit that bill, with each team gladly making room at SS for the slugger should the situation present itself. Should A-Rod remain a Yankee, go to a weak AL team (been there done that), or move to the NL, perhaps it IS just about the money. But until he makes his decision, many of the aforementioned factors will weigh on A-Rod's mind.