Nightengale: A-Rod likely a Bronx goner

• The Yankees and Alex Rodriguez may find their relationship frayed beyond repair
• The club may look to trade their third baseman in the offseason
• However, moving his $114 million in remaining salar will be difficult

DETROIT -- Take a good, long hard look at him.

This will be the last time you'll ever see Alex Rodriguez in a New York Yankees uniform.

We might have already seen him play his last game for the Bronx Bombers.

The Yankees, desperate for offense, and set to play in an elimination game Wednesday night, benched their greatest and most expensive star for the second consecutive game.

Though Game 4 of the American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers was postponed by rain, the Yankees already tipped their hand and had him on the bench, leaving A-Rod humiliated.

The Yankees are making it loud and clear they want Rodriguez out as quickly as possible.

Rodriguez, his pride and ego damaged beyond repair, is now telling close friends that he won't stand in the way.

Rodriguez, who has a full no-trade clause, won't ask to be traded, a person familiar with Rodriguez's thinking told USA TODAY Sports. The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation.

A-Rod has enough image problems without adding to his blooper reel.

Yet, when you are benched in the biggest games of the season, or removed for pinch-hitters in the most crucial situations, why would you want to play where you're not wanted?

"I come to the ballpark feeling I can help the team win,'' Rodriguez said, engulfed by reporters, "and when you see your name is not in the lineup, obviously it's disappointing.

"I want to play. I'll always believe the lineup is better with me in it.''

The Yankees aren't even giving Rodriguez a chance to fail anymore, with Yankee general manager Brian Cashman using a public forum to say: "That doesn't mean he's done. That he's finished. That he is not capable. ... Right now we are adjusting to what we're seeing.''

Rodriguez, in turn, is adjusting to the Yankees' actions.

He will welcome a trade, the person says, but it must to be to another big-market club. Hint: He won't be going to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The most likely choices would be the Miami Marlins, Los Angeles Angels, Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Cashman vehemently denied a report by Keith Olbermann for MLB.com that said the Yankees have already discussed a deal to the Miami Marlins.

"I've had no discussions whatsoever with the Florida Marlins,'' Cashman said, but then again, didn't deny talks with the Miami Marlins. "I can tell you there are no discussions whatsoever, 100% false. We are not down the line on any trade talks on any of our players, including Alex.''

What Cashman failed to say was, "If the Marlins truly want him, we'll purchase 10,000 season tickets for you, and take manager Ozzie Guillen, too."

The deal that makes the most sense is trading A-Rod to the Angels for outfielder Vernon Wells. The Angels don't want Wells, who has two years and $42 million remaining in his deal. They need a power-hitting third baseman, and want to make room in the outfield for free agent Torii Hunter, who has been offered only a one-year contract at a heavy pay cut from his $18 million salary, while seeking at least a two-year deal.

The Yankees would gladly take Wells for Rodriguez, but the problem, of course, will be money: How much will the Yankees have to kick in? Rodriguez has five years, $114 million remaining on his deal, and four general managers and executives say that Rodriguez is probably worth about $7 million to $10 million a year, and certainly not more than $12 million.

"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of speculation where A-Rod might go,'' says Milwaukee Brewers general manager Doug Melvin, who signed Rodriguez to that staggering 10-year, $250 million contract in 2000 while with the Texas Rangers. "Who knows what will happen?

"We used to go to the winter meetings and make trades. Baseball has always had the best off-season of any sport. But now with some of these contracts, we've become like the NBA. You take my two guys, I'll take yours, and we'll release them at the end of the year.

"They're not trades. They're business deals.''

It was quite a different picture, back in 2000, when Rodriguez signed his deal. He was 24 years old. He was the best player in baseball. Melvin and his staff told owner Tom Hicks that Rodriguez was easily a $20-million-a-year player. Hicks paid him $25 million a year instead, figuring he'd be worth the extra loot in ticket sales and marketing, with Rodriguez even vowing to move to Texas.

Rodriguez bought a house in Dallas, just as he promised, he just never happened to live in it.

Yet, while the Rangers never won anything while Rodriguez was around, he still was a star. He led the American League in homers each of his three years in Texas, with 52, 57 and 47 homers in 2001-2003, and drove in 395 runs.

"I can't say it was an awful contract,'' Melvin told USA TODAY Sports, "he was the Mike Trout of baseball. From 25 to 31 (years old), he was the best player in baseball, and playing a premium position. "We viewed it as a seven-year contract, not a 10-year deal. We knew he would opt out.''

It was the Yankees who panicked, and blew it, when A-Rod opted out after the 2007 season. He bluffed, and the Yankees went for the bait, giving him a 10-year, $275 million contract that pays him until the age of 42.

"When a player gets to the age of 32 to 34,'' Melvin said, "you start to get concerned about the age factor. You start to see injuries. And if they're locked into a long-term deal, those contracts are very hard to walk away from.''

Welcome to the Yankees' world.

They have the highest-paid player in baseball history who never plays, but has become a sideshow for the tabloids. The latest escapade was getting caught in Game 1 by the New York Post for flirting with two women after he was removed as a pinch-hitter.

Rodriguez denied it, but no one else has, only for Yankee executives to say that A-Rod isn't being benched for his pick-up lines.

When you have to wonder if it's the poor production or the off-field distractions, well, it's time to go. The circus is over.

The Yankees are making it clear they want Rodriguez out as soon as possible.