A-Rod: The Lone Ranger?

Interrupting a European business trip to return a call, Tom Hicks took stock of his Texas Rangers and confirmed that he will be conducting domestic business differently.

The Rangers, riddled by injuries and questionable roster decisions, and occupying the cellar in the American League West, will be living within their financial means from now on, Hicks said, and will rebuild around the still-young Alex Rodriguez with even younger players.

“The plan was and is to build a championship team by 2004,” Hicks said.

Of course, a cynic might suggest that the Rangers’ owner wouldn’t now be talking about two years of losses that will reach $70 million by the end of the season and cutting $25 million from a $103-million payroll that is baseball’s third highest if he hadn’t bid against himself in giving Rodriguez that 10-year, $252-million contract in December 2000.

There is no disputing the cynic, but it also can be said that in the mysterious world of baseball economics, when even the sharpest minds are confounded trying to justify and equate salary to performance, Rodriguez might be a bargain.

The one certainty is that A-Rod’s production ledger is almost as impressive as his bank account.

If Cal Ripken Jr. redefined the shortstop position from a size standpoint, Rodriguez has taken it to an unprecedented level on offense.

In what amounts to his seventh full season at a still-blossoming 26, Rodriguez continues to expand the position’s parameters--and more.

“If he’s not already one of the greatest shortstops ever, he’s on a short list with Ripken,” Ranger Manager Jerry Narron said.

Angel Manager Mike Scioscia said:

“I don’t think you’ll get much argument that he’s the best player in the game. He’s probably the most complete player I’ve ever seen. He can hurt you in so many ways.

“By the time he’s finished, his offensive numbers are going to fly by guys who played what are considered to be the more traditional power positions.

“And what gets lost--because he’s such a dominant force on offense--is the way he plays shortstop, which is almost as incredible as what he does at the plate.”

Before Thursday night’s game at Edison Field, Rodriguez was batting .317 with a league-leading 20 home runs and a major league-leading 56 runs batted in.

His home run total projected to 57 and his RBI total to 159.

Both numbers would surpass last year’s: 52 homers, the most by a shortstop or any infielder other than a first baseman, and 135 RBIs.

Rodriguez also led the league in runs and total bases and joined Babe Ruth, Hack Wilson and Jimmie Foxx as the only players with 50 or more homers and 200 or more hits in a season. He had 201 hits while becoming only the ninth player to have hit 40 or more homers in four consecutive seasons.

With 261 homers, eight years left on his contract and more years likely to follow because he will be only 35 when it expires, the imagination stretches to Henry Aaron’s 755--unless Barry Bonds lifts that record even higher.

If Rodriguez allows his imagination to stretch that far, he won’t say.

He joined the Seattle Mariners as the first player selected in the 1993 amateur draft, from Miami’s Westminster Christian High, and was tutored in media relations by specialist Andrea Kirby and agent Scott Boras. No one is more cordial or savvy, but it is difficult penetrating his PR-PC shield.

Rodriguez, for example, isn’t going to say that he already can spot Aaron on the horizon, or criticize Hicks for retreating financially or say he made a mistake in leaving the Mariners, who through Wednesday were 82 games over .500 in the 1 1/3 seasons since Rodriguez left, whereas the Rangers were 27 games under.

The Boras camp insists the Mariners simply failed to make a competitive bid or show any real market interest in retaining Rodriguez, and it’s too late to do anything about it now anyway.

If Rodriguez privately has second thoughts, they haven’t interfered with his play.

Nor have the pressures of his contract, the demands of his position and the heat he has encountered--in Texas and elsewhere.

Shadowing Ripken, Rodriguez was the only major leaguer to play all 162 games last year, and he has played every game this year--striving, he said, to improve on the little things that are so important and always working “to master a game that can’t be mastered.”

He said he is flattered if Scioscia and others consider him to be baseball’s best player and that his long-term hope--other than winning a World Series and receiving a Gold Glove in recognition of his defense--is to maintain the consistency and durability of “great players and future Hall of Famers” such as Bonds, Roger Clemens, Edgar Martinez and Rafael Palmeiro.

The journey last year wasn’t always easy.

“It hurts when people want to equate me to what’s wrong with a game I love,” Rodriguez said. “I put myself in position, through dedication and hard work, to be rewarded, and suddenly I’m a villain. A lot of skeptical people thought I’d fail. Last year wasn’t easy, but I’m proud of the way I handled it, being able to build on the consistency I’d established over the previous years. Most people this year seem more forgiving and understanding. There’s a night-and-day difference.”

Rodriguez credits fiancee Cynthia Scurtis with providing an emotional outlet. She is an Ohio State psychology graduate whom he will marry in November.

Their long-range plan is to open an office where youngsters with mental problems can receive free assistance.

Rodriguez also credits Ranger batting coach Rudy Jaramillo with changing the “infrastructure” of his swing. Once a front-leg hitter, he’s now more balanced, able to wait longer on pitches, and respond with more power.

“The sky’s the limit,” Jaramillo said of Rodriguez. “At 26, he hasn’t reached his full development, but he has a desire to excel. There’s no doubt he’ll be there with the guys whose numbers are among the best of the past.”

A-Rod already has led the league in hitting once and compiled a 40-40 season of home runs and steals.

“He’s a superstar with a utility player’s mentality,” Narron said. “He’ll do anything to help his club and teammates. If he had zero skills, you’d want him on your team because of his intangibles.”

From London, Hicks agreed.

“Maybe the sticker price shocked people,” the owner said, “but we didn’t want him for three years, we wanted him for 10. We wanted to build around him. He’s a great player, probably the best in baseball, with great intangibles, as far as being a leader. He’s been under a lot of pressure, and he’s obviously handled it well.”

If A-Rod’s contributions justify the investment, the rest of the Ranger portfolio isn’t doing as well.

Hicks had to pay a $550,000 tampering fine in the hiring of General Manager John Hart and assistant Grady Fuson, and maybe that should have been an omen.

Injuries have played a major role, but the big-ticket acquisitions of the winter--Chan Ho Park, Juan Gonzalez and Carl Everett--have yet to pay dividends.

Hicks suggested that in trying to “bridge the gap to our younger players and [later compensate for the injury wave] we may have lost sight in a couple cases” of the type character that had made “Alex so attractive to us.”

Hicks definitely was referring to John Rocker, now in the minors, and probably Everett, among others. Multiyear contracts with no-trade provisions will make rebuilding difficult, but the housecleaning is expected to include the free-agency-eligible Palmeiro and Ivan Rodriguez, possibly as soon as the July trade deadline.

Asked if he thought he had been lured to Texas under a false commitment and promise, Rodriguez shook his head and said he understood where Hicks was coming from.

He said he believed the owner “has gone into his own pocket for an incredible amount of money” and that what he is really saying when he talks about withdrawing some financially is refocusing on players who have a commitment to winning.

“In this business, and you only have to look at what the Dodgers are doing this year compared to last year, there’s such a quick turn-around ratio that if we can show him we can still change directions and improve 10 or 12 games this year, I think that’s what he wants to see more than anything,” Rodriguez said.

“I’m disappointed we haven’t played better, but we’ve also had $50 million or $60 million in players on the disabled list. There’s a lot of baseball left.”

And there are areas in which baseball’s best and highest-paid player might get even better, a reassuring thought for Hicks as he contemplates his Euros and U.S. dollars.

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Power Ranger

A look at where Texas shortstop Alex Rodriguez, above, ranks in some American League offensive statistics (through Wednesday):

*--* Category Rank No Home runs 1st 20 RBIs 1st 56 Slugging % 1st 661 On-base % 5th 408 Walks T7th 32 Batting average 9th 317

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