There are facts and then there are developing facts, otherwise known as rumors.

The fact is that Grady Little has resigned as manager of the Dodgers. Says it has nothing to do with bad feelings between himself and GM Ned Colletti. Says it has nothing to do with the notion that the baseball universe believes that it's a foregone conclusion that Joe Torre will be moving into the Dodgers' manager's office any day now.

But it's obviously the necessary step to clear the way for that to happen. Moving on to the developing facts -- so, Torre becomes manager of the Dodgers and brings Don Mattingly with him.  And certainly that helps the Dodgers' standing in the Alex Rodriguez sweepstakes.

I was watching one of those round-table sports discussions where the speculation was about A-Rod's next team and, in my opinion, former football player-turned-radio guy Garry Cobb had an interesting take on that. While everyone else was offering sports wonk points of view, such as who could afford A-Rod, who was in a position to contend for a World Series, who could best accommodate him in their lineup, Cobb talked about the human element here.

It's not entirely (although partly) about the money because all the leading candidates will pretty much come up with the same amount of cash -- plus, Rodriguez has enough money for his great-great grandchildren. It's not even about winning a World Series (although partly) because if it were ALL about being on a winning team, A-Rod would have stayed with the Yankees -- because who else is in a better position year-in and year-out to contend for a world championship.

At the end of the day, A-Rod has had it with the intense scrutiny that comes with playing on an East Coast team (so scratch off the Red Sox), Cobb opined. So the best fit, in A-Rod's world view (speculatively speaking), would be either the Dodgers or the Angels. Both are contenders. Both should be able to afford him (although the Dodgers seem to be more of a mind to open the vault).  And A-Rod is several thousand miles away from those hectoring East Coast media types who refused to buy into the hero worship and picked at the scab of his playoff problems, and the pesky tabloids that made life miserable for him and wife, Cynthia. And, of course, now there will be Torre.

*  The NBA season opened last night. Of course, you felt the earth move, didn't you? No? Oh, well.  It did -- meaning the NBA started, not the earth moving. The Lakers lost at home to Houston by two points. Kobe Bryant is still playing in L.A. (and that's one more reason for A-Rod to wind up in Los Angeles, to fill that impending celeb vacuum when Bryant moves along). San Antonio picked up where it left off last year, picked up its championship rings and clobbered Portland. Wake us up when the playoffs start.