Imagine being able to walk away from $72 million. Obviously, Alex Rodriguez is in a position to do exactly that.

Now, his agent, Scott Boras, said this is really about what the Yankees will look like in 2008. Mariano Rivera, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada all might leave, Boras said, and A-Rod kinda wanted to know if they'd be back and blah-blah-blah.

C'mon. If all three of those guys wind up leaving the zoo, is there any doubt that the Yanks would spend whatever it took to replace them? And exactly how many teams in any given year are better situated than the Yankees come spring training to be in the hunt for a world title? It's not as if the Yankees are going to become the Pittsburgh Pirates overnight. And A-Rod obviously knows that.

So when an athlete walks away from $72 mil, it really has to come down to one thing: He thinks he can more elsewhere.

Yankee fans have had a love-hate relationship with Rodriguez, who has been astounding in the regular season and frustrating in October. And this, my friends, is a perfect example (we hope someone is keeping a close eye on this lad)