A-Rod was telling the truth when he said he really wants to be in New York. That doesn't mean he isn't talking out of both sides of his mouth as he's often been accused. He does want to stay in the Big Apple...just not as a Yankee.

New York City is where his ambitious heart has always longed to be. It's the site of the largest media microscope...a habitat where attention starved individuals such as Rodriguez often find themselves. It's also the home of Derek Jeter...A-Rod's not-so-well-hidden obsession.  In recent years this has been portrayed as Much Ado About Nothing, but the envy is still there and always has been.

Let's take a stroll down Memory Lane. When Jeter and A-Rod first came up they quickly became fast friends. The handsome, scrappy, "American pie" (Jeter) and the handsome, slugging, "this kid could be the best ever" (Rodriguez) probably enjoyed picking up women with the same frequency that most of us pick up dirty clothes from our bathroom floors. Ironically, I believe it was a woman that ultimately sent the widely speculated grudge match past the point of no return. Aren't women often at the root of these things? 

It was prior to the 2001 season that Rodriguez (and Jeter) signed their enormous contracts. A-Rod's contract would become an albatross that people would never stop reminding him of. Jeter's nearly as obscene deal became an afterthought in baseball history. However, derogatory comments made by Alex before the season started about Derek in Esquire Magazine live in infamy. You know...something about how "It was unfair to compare the two since Jeter's power numbers weren't even close to his and that Derek wasn't even the main guy other teams feared when they faced the Yankees" (paraphrasing here but that was the gist). In all honesty it was probably a valid opinion...even if lacking any class. Especially since the guy was his best friend.

The ensuing history regarding the "rift that would not be spoken of" was easier to track from then on. It was still 2001 and Rodriguez had his sights set on an up and coming Latina singer by the name of Joy Enriquez. It's alleged that he went out of his way to meet her. The problem is that she also wound up meeting Jeter, his notorious partner-in-Wine & Dine. That is where the story got really good. According to sources, the sexy Enriquez was more interested in Jeter than she was A-Rod. As a result it was Jeter she wound up dating, which was likely a damaging blow to Rodriguez's fragile ego.  Kind of like Marcia and Jan Brady from The Brady Bunch, I can see Alex stomping his foot whining "DEREK...DEREK...DEREK!!!"

What's that saying..."Hell hath no fury like an egomaniac scorned... for his best friend that he recently dissed big time"? Yeah, I think that's it.

You have to admit, for awhile Jeter was living a charmed life. He ran through beautiful women like an express train through a subway tunnel. Championship rings were collected as easily as ring-pops. His face was the most recognizable in all of baseball even if he wasn't even close to being its best player. All A-Rod did was put up huge numbers while getting significantly less exposure and publicity. He was yet another great player, stuck in a smallish market, that most people rarely got to see in action.

Let's keep in mind other bits of "evidence' demonstrating A-Rod's obsession with one-upping Jeter in any category not associated with homeruns and RBIs.

Prior to both the signing of his enormous contract with the Texas Rangers and the Esquire fiasco, it was the New York Mets that Alex wanted to play for. The Mets happened to be his favorite childhood team. What better way to upstage his buddy Jeter and his 4 World Series rings, than to steal the city from him by playing for the cross town club? The problem was that he asked for far too much in the eyes of then GM Steve Phillips and manager Bobby Valentine. The salary expectations, plus demands from A-Rod for office space at Shea to run his "marketing empire", seemed too arrogant and prima Donna-ish to the Mets hierarchy...so they passed. Only after Alex was spurned, did the Rangers come calling with 252 million reasons to temporarily forget Jeter.

The problem with playing in Texas from 2001-2003 is that...well...they sucked. If there had been little opportunity for face-time in Seattle playing alongside Ken Griffey Jr., it was much worse in stifling Arlington, Texas. Rodriquez put up legendary statistics that once again went mostly unnoticed. Meanwhile in those same 3 years Jeter played on division winners that won 2 AL pennants (losing to Arizona and Florida in the 2001 & 2003 World Series respectively). A-Rod wanted out of The Lone Star State (how fitting) and badly.

Next stop the Boston Red Sox for little more than a day. Aaron Boone's infamous game 7 ALCS homerun in 2003 left Red Sox Nation smarting. Back before they hated A-Rod they lusted for him. The feeling was mutual. He wanted a chance to play for a winner and rightfully so. This also provided another opportunity to get back at Jeter by playing for the hated rival of the Yankees. Alex even tried to give some of his contract back to sweeten the deal (Tell me he wasn't obsessed). Unfortunately for him the greedy players' association put the kibosh on his trade to Boston. Sawx fans would later claim they never wanted him in the first place (yeah right... but I guess it all worked out).

Plan B in his "I must have vengeance" vendetta was: If I can't beat him then I'll join him. Yankees brass was more than willing to once again upstage their Boston brethren. Jeter, seeing an opportunity for more rings, likely feigned happiness. A-Rod fully intended to take the town by storm and become the Big Apple's favorite son. It's an understatement to say it didn't quite work out that way. However, the plan came perilously close to working. If not for an invasion of Midge Flies in Cleveland during game 2 of this year's ALDS, nobody can say for certain what might have happened. Perhaps the Yankees would have won that series in five games... beaten Boston in the ALCS... and won the World Series to punctuate A-Rod's second MVP season in the Bronx. Hey, if biting insects can appear from out of nowhere like a plague from the bible then this was certainly a possibility.

Now he has opted out of his contract and in his typical tabloid fashion. Will A-Rod be a Cub? How about an Angel? Reunite with Torre in Dodger Blue? You so crazy if you're buying that one. You do remember that Clueless Joe publicly humiliated A-Rod in the 2006 playoffs by dropping him to 8th in the batting order, don't you? Could he still re-sign with the Yankees or get taken in by the Red Sox? Yeah, maybe when pigs mate with midge flies. There is only one logical destination and that is with the New York Metropolitans. Alex is just waiting for the right moment.

It's so easy a caveman could do it. The Mets have the cash. They will move David Wright over from third base to play second. Instantly their infield has arguably the greatest regular season player in history, the slickest shortstop in all of baseball (Jose Reyes) and the best hitting second baseman in the game this side of Philadelphia's Chase Utley. Don't think for a second that David Wright cannot physically make the transition or that he would be unwilling to do so. He is a great athlete and a true team player.

Oh, and most importantly...A-Rod gets one final chance at finally beating Jeter. If he takes the Mets to a World Series title, he will dethrone Jeter as the King of New York. Mets fans will be sure to thumb their noses at Yankees fans by treating Alex with nothing but love.

However, if he keeps coming up with post-season clunkers he'll be forced to continue living the equivalent of a modern day Greek Tragedy.  Mets fans will be sure to take care of that too. The great "hero"...destined to meet with perpetual doom and gloom. And to think it all started out like Helen of Troy except this time her name was Joy and she was from Latin America.

Joy of Troy has a good ring to it. Will A-Rod finally find true joy? If you believe in bad karma then probably not.