It was after 4 a.m. Sunday morning before he finally fell asleep. And when he awoke, thoughts still moved through his head like the stocks crawl across the bottom of a television.

By the time Edgar Martinez arrived at Safeco Field around 10 a.m. Sunday, Rodriguez already was there. The subject of Rodriguez's potential impending departure hung heavy like fog in the Mariners' clubhouse, but nobody addressed it.

Edgar Martinez's two-run homer in the fifth helped the Mariners to a huge Game 5 victory.(AP)

They didn't have to.

Everyone knew that there was the very real possibility that this was Rodriguez's final game in Safeco Field as a member of the Seattle Mariners. Same for manager Lou Piniella.

And even though the Mariners clipped New York 6-2 to pull to within three-games-to-two and send this American League Championship Series back to Yankee Stadium, there remains the very real question of whether Rodriguez and Piniella will see Safeco Field again.

For them to do so, the Mariners must win two games in Yankee Stadium and earn a ticket to the World Series. Anything less, and Rodriguez, a free agent this winter, may very well be gone before spring training. Piniella, too, is in the final year of his contract.

"To be really honest, for the first time, I really had a hard time falling asleep," said Rodriguez, whose two-run single in the fifth gave the Mariners the lead they never relinquished. "Sure, it becomes emotional.

"You never know what will happen. Life is full of different things. You never know what your future holds.

"It was very emotional for me out there today."

Minutes after the game ended, bench coach John McLaren peeled the lineup card off of the dugout wall and handed it to Rodriguez.

"A present," Rodriguez called it, and he carefully placed it into his locker for safekeeping.

The last lineup card from his last game as a Mariner?

"Possibly," McLaren allowed. "He's a special person. I don't think it's any big deal. It's kind of a souvenir from the playoffs.

"If there's any significance to it, there is.

"If not, there's not."

Besides, McLaren said, he thinks that Rodriguez will re-sign with the Mariners.

"I do," he said. "I feel like we're going to go further. I think what he's looking for is a winning scenario. And I think that's what we're building here."

Rodriguez has been ever so careful to play things close to the vest this season. If he's close to a decision one way or the other -- re-sign with Seattle or go elsewhere -- he's keeping those thoughts to himself. He has dropped periodic hints this season, though nothing substantial. And the problem is, the hints have been in the form of mixed signals.

But listening to him Sunday, he sounded like a guy approaching graduation day.

"I really felt emotional because of the uncertainty," he said. "Anything can happen. I've never faced that before."

It is no secret that a flock of teams will line up to woo him into their lineup this winter. The New York Mets, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta, Colorado and Los Angeles are expected to come hard after him.

Rodriguez has said that he wants to land in a situation where he has a chance to win every year. That certainly is Atlanta, where the Braves are studying the feasibility of clearing $18-to-20 million off of their payroll and signing Rodriguez.

Atlanta should not be underestimated as a serious player, either. The Braves almost certainly won't re-sign free agent first baseman Andres Galarraga, and if they say goodbye to both he and Wally Joyner, that's $11.875 million lopped off the payroll right there. They will try to trade right fielder Brian Jordan, who is two years into a five-year, $40 million deal. A few other moves -- shortstop Walt Weiss ($3 million) retires, among others -- and, suddenly, $20 million a year to A-Rod isn't out of the question.

If the Braves clear the cash, the most likely scenario is this: Rodriguez would play shortstop for the Braves, shortstop Rafael Furcal would move to third and Jones would move to first to replace Galarraga. Quilvio Veras would remain at second base and bat leadoff.

As for the other scenarios ...

The Mets? Rodriguez's best friend in the game is Yankees' shortstop Derek Jeter. Sharing the New York City spotlight with him certainly would be appealing.

The White Sox or Dodgers? Both would give Rodriguez the major metropolitan stage some believe he covets.

The Rockies? They certainly seem the least likely, but stranger things have happened.

Piniella, meanwhile, will be the hottest name in the managerial market if he doesn't re-sign with Seattle. Sources close to Jim Bowden say the Reds' general manager would love to lure Piniella back to Cincinnati.

"You don't think about any of that during the game," said Martinez, whose two-run homer broke the game open in the fifth. "At times before the game, you might.

"(Saturday) night, I was thinking about it."

Indeed, these Mariners have a lot on their minds.

"This has been a wonderful place to work, it's a great city," Piniella was saying before Game 5. "This ballpark ... is second to none.

"It is a wonderful organization. Our ownership group, our front office, the players that I've had, they're top notch. This place here, I'm talking about as a baseball team, it is on the upswing with the added revenues that they will derive from this stadium. Our ownership group here doesn't want to make any money -- they're wealthy enough. All they want to do is put a good product on the field and be in a competitive situation year-in and year-out.

"It is going to get better. It's going to get better here. It's been fun, it really has been."

Interestingly -- tellingly? -- that last sentence was past tense. And that's the unsettling thing right now.

With both Rodriguez and Piniella, it's easy to play Connect the Hints.

But it's also too early to solve the puzzle.

"Obviously, you become a bit apprehensive about the possibilities," Rodriguez said. "And my mom has always told me, 'Sometimes it's not greener on the other side.'

"That's something that when it is all said and done, I'm going to sit down and have a talk with my loved ones and, hopefully, make a wise decision."

So it was that the Mariners loaded lots of questions onto their charter flight Sunday night along with the equipment trunks.

Game 6 in Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night is only the most immediate of their dilemmas.