Alex Rodriguez says his contract talks with the Yankees are in the bottom of the fifth inning.

I have no idea what that means. But I do know what this means:

"Long after baseball, New York is going to be part of our lives," he said. "I have some unfinished business in New York.

I can't tell you how glad I am to hear him say this. When he opted out of the contract, and had his agent do it during Game 4 of the World Series, I had written A-Rod off as a businessman who just happened to play baseball. A hired gun.

This tells me that it bothers him on more than just a professional level that he had one of the greatest indivdiual baseball seasons ever and fell apart in the post-season. I know that the rest of the team fell apart as well, but I think A-Rod expected himself to carry the team on his shoulders, and he didn't do that. And that bothers him.

The only thing better than having one of the best players in baseball as your third baseman is having him there with something to prove.