Newell Gurus

We have developed a leak coming out of the Raritan hot water heater.  The foam insulation blanket is completely water logged. I  popped out the plastic hole cover on the top of the unit and can feel something like a fitting with my finger. Not sure what this is. Was thinking maybe it is the anode protection rod.  Was wondering if anyone else has had this kind of issue.  Looking for any advice.  Hate to just spend +/- 1K for new water heater if it might be something I can tighten / replace or fix myself a lot cheaper.

The bottom of mine developed some pin holes that kept the bay floor damp - It took a while to determine the tank was the problem.
The new tank had a few revisions so the install wasn't as easy as I had hoped . . .