Do We Take A-Rod Back?

The question rolling around the blogosphere today is an intriguing one. Scott Boras is clearly trying to make a case that Alex did nothing wrong, and that the Yankees should just treat him as another free agent available to fill the third base hole. So the question is, now that he has already opted out, and that ship has sailed, do we get involved in the A-Rod sweepstakes? More specifically, what if A-Rod finds no one to give him 30 million a year, and returns to the Yankees asking for 8 years at 28 per, for 224 total, which is 16 million less than what the Yankees were supposedly ready to offer. This would mean that the opt out cost the team only 5 million. Do we take Alex back?
I would not. He is obviously the best 3rd baseman on the market, but we have been down that road before and not succeeded. I believe that the Yankees have been afforded a fantastic opportunity by Alex's decision. They can now shift the focus of the team from one built on big boppers to one focused on pitching and timely hitting. Consider the following plan. The Yankees use Melky as a trade chip to obtain starting or relief pitching, being that the teams' best two offensive prospects are outfielders (AJax and Tabata). That helps bolster a staff already on the upswing due to the injection of top young arms. In the field, imagine adding Hunter or Rowand to play Center, a Lowell type at 3rd, and a Casey Blake or Ben Broussard at 1st. A lineup such as Damon, Jeter, Abreu, Posada, Lowell, Cano, Hunter/Rowand, Matsui, Blake/ Broussard, provides a group of consistent hitters who will score plenty of runs. I think that team is better than last year's Yankees in the field and on the mound, and does not have a major drop off at the plate. For that reason, I say we turn our backs on A-Rod and never look back.