Harried Rodriguez at point of yes return

He hit .071, committed a major throwing error, and admitted that he had the toughest summer of his life. Yet, Alex Rodriguez wants to return to the Yankees in 2007.

The speculation will soon abound on whether the Yankees will deal Rodriguez, but, judging by his words, he doesn't plan on going anywhere. Holding a full no-trade clause, Rodriguez said after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs last night that he would have to be told he wasn't wanted in New York anymore for him to leave.

``I'm 100 percent looking forward to next year," said Rodriguez, who failed to get an RBI for the second straight playoff series. ``I hope they don't get rid of me. I hope that's not the case. I feel I'm part of the solution."

Rodriguez, who was dropped to eighth in the lineup yesterday, was at a loss to explain his poor performance in the playoffs the last two seasons with the Yankees.

``Maybe the good Lord is saying it's not time for me," said the reigning American League MVP. ``I'm not giving up. I have to look in the mirror and make adjustments. Whatever I'm doing in the last eight or nine [playoff] games, I'm going to find the problem. When we do win, that's going to make it that more gratifying."

Rodriguez said he was 100 percent committed to returning to the Yankees and he hoped that ``I couldn't be more clear." He added, ``If they're dying to get me out . . . I hope not."

Manager Joe Torre sat Jason Giambi, who took a cortisone shot in his right shoulder Friday night, put Melky Cabrera in left, and reinserted Gary Sheffield at first, but nothing worked. A-Rod, Cabrera, and Sheffield were a combined 0 for 10 as the Yankees lost to Detroit, 8-3.

Before the game, Torre didn't care for the media asking why A-Rod was hitting eighth before they asked about Giambi not being in the lineup. ``Catch you guys," Torre said. ``You found that A-Rod hitting eighth is more important than Giambi not playing. See, that's not fair. I think the first question should have been why isn't Giambi playing?"

A-Rod spoke with Yankee adviser Reggie Jackson before the game, the two deep in conversation around the batting cage. Jackson was later asked about A-Rod dipping so low in the lineup. ``I never worried about where I hit in the lineup," said the Hall of Famer. ``That's not important. It's meaningless to talk about it. It's what you do with your at-bat that's important."

Truer words were never spoken.

Bernie Williams still has not decided whether he will return for another season. ``I'll make a decision sometime in the offseason," Williams said. Asked what the difference was between the four championship teams he played on and the recent bunch of talented Yankee teams that can't win, he said, ``Just the results." . . . Jaret Wright has a 2-3 record with an 8.41 ERA in five AL Division Series appearances . . . On what's ahead in the offseason, Johnny Damon said, ``That's up for [GM Brian Cashman] and George Steinbrenner to address. The move to get me here was huge in shifting the balance of power in the division to the Yankees." . . . Asked whether he thought Torre's job was in jeopardy, Rodriguez said, ``No I don't." . . . Tigers great Willie Horton threw out the first ball . . . Yankees first base coach Tony Pena brought out the lineup card and shook hands with Leyland, his former manager with the Pirates . . . Magglio Ordonez's second-inning home run, his first of the postseason, traveled 422 feet . . . Four hours after they were eliminated by the Tigers, the Yankees pulled up to Yankee Stadium in three buses late, greeted by fewer than a dozen fans. With as many police as supporters on hand, most of the players quickly went to their cars and drove away. Backup infielder Andy Phillips was the only player who talked with reporters. ``I don't think we've even comprehended what's just happened in the last few hours, much less to think about what's ahead," Phillips said. ``I think it's kind of the usual emotion that you would expect: guys frustrated and disappointed."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland said he didn't sleep well after Friday night's 6-0 win. ``I kept closing my eyes and all I could see was [Bobby ] Abreu, Giambi, and [Derek ] Jeter, and I mean that sincerely. I was laying in bed with my wife, and my son was there, and we're talking and I was saying, `We have to face that lineup again in about 20 hours.' It's never-ending. I'll be glad I don't have to look at them until next spring -- and that's a compliment. I mean, you can have nightmares. I was up until 4 a.m. eating M&M's."

It was a season that, like the nine that preceded it, ended in disappointment for Nomar Garciaparra. But in so many ways, it was one of the happiest of Garciaparra's career, one in which he reestablished himself as one of the game's best players -- and got to do so at home.

Last night, Garciaparra, who did not start because of a torn left quadriceps, was honored as the National League's Comeback Player of the Year, acknowledgment by fans at MLB.com of his .303 average, 20 home runs, and 93 RBIs in 122 games, all while excelling at a new position, first base.

In 2005, Garciaparra, who sustained a groin injury on April 20 in St. Louis and missed 3 1/2 months, appeared in just 62 games for the Chicago Cubs, batting .283 with 9 home runs and 30 RBIs. An Achillies tendinitis injury in 2004 limited him to just 81 games for the Red Sox and Cubs, to whom he was dealt at the July 31 trading deadline.

This year may not have been Garciaparra at the top of his game, when he was winning back-to-back batting titles in Boston, but it was a reasonable enough facsimile.

Now the question becomes, will Garciaparra return to the Dodgers next season? He was working on a one-year deal for $6 million, a pact he made more lucrative by earning an additional $2.5 million in incentives based on plate appearances. But the Dodgers have a hugely talented rookie first baseman in James Loney, who led the minors in hitting with a .380 average and last night had three hits and a bases-loaded walk, with three RBIs.

The decision is not likely to be an easy one, and at 33, after a season in which he broke down at the end, it remains to be seen what Garciaparra might command on the open market.

``I'll tell you what," Dodgers GM Ned Colletti said, ``I love how he plays, I love who he is. I'll certainly try. We'll have to see how it goes."

Garciaparra made his preference clear after the game. ``Do I want to come back? Yeah, I'd love to come back. I love the place, I love to play here. I'll start analyzing that in the offseason, take care of that in the offseason."

Garciaparra, who had five walkoff hits for the Dodgers this season, had a chance to break open the game when he pinch hit with the bases loaded in the fifth, but he hit the ball back on one bounce to pitcher Pedro Feliciano, ending the inning.

``I hit a ball hard, the guy snags it," Garciaparra said. ``If he doesn't snag it, it's up the middle and we score a couple.

``The leg, obviously I can't get out of the box, I can't run. I had to be careful when I swung today, too. I just took the chance to go out there and do whatever I could do." . . . Jim Thome, dealt to the White Sox by Philadelphia last November, following the emergence of Ryan Howard, won the AL Comeback Player of the Year honor. Thome, who received 55,587 votes, batted .288 with 42 homers, 109 RBIs, and 107 walks.

Mets outfielder Cliff Floyd, who missed almost all of August with Achilles' tendinitis in his left foot, aggravated the injury in the third inning as he came around third while scoring on Shawn Green's double. Floyd was replaced by Endy Chavez. Floyd was examined by Mets medical director David Altchek, whose initial diagnosis was a strained Achilles'. Floyd will be evaluated today. . . . Dodger fans booed third base coach Rich Donnelly during introductions, fallout from the Game 1 gaffe in which Jeff Kent and J.D. Drew were both thrown out at the plate on the same hit . . . The fans in Dodger Stadium roared when the final outs of the Yankees' elimination loss to the Tigers was shown on the scoreboard . . . The ceremonial first pitch was thrown by Duke Snider, who spent 16 years of his Hall of Fame career with the Dodgers and one with the Mets (1963).

Baseball commissioner Bud Selig, who split his evening between the Dodgers game and a black-tie charity dinner, on the Yankees' elimination from the playoffs: ``It just goes to prove that the only predictable part of the sport is its unpredictability." Selig, watching the Tigers' celebration on a pressbox TV, said: ``My goodness gracious, that may last all night. Do you think there is anyone in the stadium who hasn't been sprayed with champagne? Maybe there's one guy, sitting in the upper deck." . . . Dodgers lefthander Joe Beimel, who was removed from the playoff roster after cutting his pitching hand early Tuesday, spoke to his teammates before the game. ``Joe Beimel came in today and addressed the team, and that's all I'm saying," said Little. ``He apologized for his actions. That's all I'm saying," said Little. ``Everything else stays in that clubhouse. We're not talking about that anymore. We'll talk about that in the wintertime. He's no factor in the game today." Beimel, 29, originally told the Dodgers he injured himself inside in his hotel room, but he later admitted that he cut it on a broken glass in a New York bar around 2:30 a.m. Little expressed his disappointment Friday after learning the truth . . . The Mets will play the winner of the Cardinals-Padres series, who were forced to endure the starting time of today's Game 4 being moved twice from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. (when the Yankees were eliminated) and then to 7:30 p.m. (when the Dodgers were eliminated) . . . Padres outfielder Dave Roberts, 7 for 11 against Cardinals starter Jeff Suppan during the regular season in his career, singled in all three at-bats against him yesterday . . . Cardinals Hall of Fame shortstop Ozzie Smith threw out the ceremonial first pitch. . . . San Diego is 1 for 25 with runners in scoring position in these playoffs.

Mets manager Willie Randolph called Buck O'Neil, the Negro leagues great and baseball ambassador who died Friday night at age 94, ``an inspiration."

``I just got a chance to meet him about six, seven years ago," Randolph said. ``And just that infectious enthusiasm and attitude towards the game. I've always been a big fan of the story of Negro league baseball and literature that was written over the years, that I read over the years. To be able to meet someone that was there, who had been there, was just tremendously inspiring for me. And I'm going to miss him.

``He was always very, very positive with me. He was always rooting for me. As a matter of fact, when I got the job he left a voice mail just congratulating me and everything. He goes, `Oh, hi, skipper.' And he goes, `Nice going.' And to this day I have that on my phone.

``So every once in a while I'll just play it back when I'm going through my messages and I'll hear his voice and it means a lot to me. He's someone I'll always remember."

Nick Cafardo wrote from Detroit; Gordon Edes wrote from Los Angeles. Information from the Associated Press was also used.