A-Rod Laying Low as Madonna's Marriage Crumbles

Yankees slugger knew Madonna's divorce was coming and headed to Miami last week to avoid being linked to her

Where's Waldo? What about A-Rod?

E! News has learned that Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez knew Madonna was planning to drop the divorce bomb and was miles away "laying low" to avoid being connected to the split.

A source close to the all-world ballplayer says that Rodriguez retreated to Miami during the weekend of Oct. 4, while Madonna descended on the New York City area for her Sticky and Sweet World Tour.

Instead, Rodriguez made an effort to be photographed by paparazzi partying it up at Prime 112 steakhouse, a hotspot eatery in South Beach.

"He was in Miami because he didn't want any gossip to come up when she was in New York," the insider tells E! News. "He wanted to make sure he was seen in Miami. He wanted to be seen out."

The revelations come amid renewed reports that Madonna and Rodriguez are more than "just friends"—and that status had a big role in their respective divorces.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie have barely been seen together in months, even as Madonna reportedly dined with Rodriguez and was spotted at a Yankee game in recent weeks.

Rodriguez's estranged wife Cynthia filed for divorce in July.