SOURCE: www.dailynews.com

You can bet on this: Alex Rodriguez will be playing for the Angels or Dodgers on Opening Day in 2008.

Really, you can bet on it. Now that Rodriguez has opted out of his lucrative New York Yankees contract to become a free agent, a proposition bet on where he might land is being offered by the gambling Web site www.bodoglife.com.

The site is giving 3-to-1 odds that Rodriguez will be wearing Angels red next season, the lowest odds on the board. Just behind the Angels are the Dodgers, coming in at 4-to-1 to land A-Rod.

Where the two-time MVP really ends up still is anybody's guess. Rodriguez is about to earn his third league MVP award in the coming weeks.

Adding to the speculation that A-Rod will land in Southern California is information from a former National League general manager who is still involved in the day-to-day operations of a major-league club. He has indicated that Rodriguez recently purchased property in the Orange County area.

The unsubstantiated information could mean that Rodriguez already has his sights on joining the Angels, Dodgers, or even the San Diego Padres. Or not. It could just mean that his Orange County-based agent, Scott Boras, found him a sweet deal on a long-term investment.

Handicapping these sweepstakes is sure to be tricky.

The Dodgers' chances of landing Rodriguez certainly have been altered with the news that the team is about to make Joe Torre their next manager. Rodriguez and Torre were together in the Bronx for the past four seasons. During that time, Rodriguez averaged 43 home runs and 128 RBIs per season.

Dodgers officials were unavailable for comment as they presumably tend to the Torre proceedings.

Speculation as to where Rodriguez will land next season has been going on all summer. It intensified during the deciding game of the World Series on Sunday night, when Boras officially said his client would opt out of his contract.

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