A-Rod as an Angel isn’t worth the cost

For two nights, Alex Rodriguez made a whole stadium stop and stare. A pitch came. The New York Yankees’ third baseman swung his bat like a bludgeon. Before anyone could exhale, out of the park flew another home run.

Monday night.

Again on Tuesday night. Indeed, twice on Tuesday night. The second time, with a swing both violent and smooth, Rodriguez hit his league-leading 42nd homer this season.

Wednesday night was different. No home run for A-Rod. This time the Yankees won, spoiling a series sweep for the pistol-hot Angels. All three nights, though, there was a distinct buzz in the crowd.

You could feel it from the moment fans began lining up near the Yankees’ dugout to watch Rodriguez and his teammates stretch: Was this series an Anaheim audition for the mega-star?

Right now, Rodriguez is somebody else’s prom date. This winter, that could change. He could opt out of his unwieldy contract and sell himself for even more money. The Dodgers could be interested. But hotter talk is that Angels owner Arte Moreno might shed his shyness and join the bidding.

Judging by the fans in Anaheim, many of whom cheered the high-socked Rodriguez from the moment he pranced onto the field during batting practice, it is clear that a lot of people are wondering about -- even wishing for -- exactly that.

But they shouldn’t bother. And Moreno shouldn’t get all lusty over iron-armed No. 13. Getting Rodriguez is a gamble not worth taking.

True, Rodriguez would look fantastic in an Angels uniform.

His bilingual, Latino/Anglo vibe is a perfect fit for Southern California in the new millennium. He’d be Oscar De La Hoya with a home run trot. And here, his negatives -- what East Coast fans take to be fakery hiding behind those pearly whites -- would be loved, embraced, even emulated. Here, fakery is a big industry.

On the field, Rodriguez would provide muscle the Angels sorely need.

A lineup with a one-two combination: Rodriguez and Vladimir Guerrero? Wow. Wallop. Muy caliente.

Still, let’s get to the bottom line. He’s way too costly. And there’s not enough evidence to convince me that the power Rodriguez could provide would bring Angels fans what they covet most -- another title.

No doubt that Rodriguez has put up huge numbers, while making sure he got his money, big time. But he has never led a team to paydirt.

The 10-year contract Rodriguez signed with Texas seven years ago, with provisions still in effect, got him roughly $25 million a year. The total comes to $252 million, a nice down payment on a hulking new stadium.

With his popularity on the rise, because he is plowing up the home run charts and has not been tagged a steroid cheat, Rodriguez will surely demand a raise.

The Angels just might be able to get him -- probably for a yearly sum of $30 million, almost twice what any other player on the team commands. What would that bring? A lot of hope. But no guarantees.

The Angels need another big bat. But do they need Rodriguez’s big bat?

They’d be better off making a shrewd trade for a guy who wouldn’t blow up the salary structure. They could even get creative and go after Torii Hunter, a free-agent-to-be who has good power and plays the outfield like Willie Mays.

They could put Hunter in center field, move Gary Matthews Jr. to left and make creaky-kneed Garret Anderson a designated hitter.

And they could get Hunter at a fraction of what it would take to sign A-Rod.

Besides, even without another power bat, the way the Angels are playing, with solid pitching backed by a smart, even crafty offense, they have a decent enough shot at World Series glory.

Remember last year? The St. Louis Cardinals won the title. They had one marquee guy, Albert Pujols.

Remember 2005? The Chicago White Sox won the title. Who’d they have? Konerko, Podsednik and Pierzynski aren’t exactly household names. You could fool your neighbor into thinking any one of them played linebacker for the ’61 Chicago Bears.

Turn the clock back to just a few years before Boston’s historic run and you’ll find what for the locals is the sweetest example of this -- the 2002 Angels. Talk about peaking at the right moment and winning without an uber star.

Who’d they beat in the World Series? Barry Bonds and his mega-millions and his home run trot. And who’d they beat in the playoffs? A Yankees team larded with cash and stuffed to the gills with high-profile players who couldn’t come through when the going got tough.

On Tuesday night, Rodriguez stood on the cement steps in the Yankees’ dugout. He rocked back and forth and smiled and looked imposing in his Yankees grays, the No. 13 stretched wide across his ample back. He scanned the field in Angel Stadium, and you had to wonder if he was thinking: What would it be like to play here?

Shortly afterward, came a roar. The video screen perched over the outfield was playing flashbacks from the 2002 Angels championship. The scene that got the loudest roar was the biggest hit of that great season, probably the biggest hit in Angels history -- a home run to right field by a plucky journeyman named Scott Spiezio.

It was a reminder that the best moments are not always brought to you by the pin-up kings with the biggest biceps and the fattest wallets.

Alex Rodriguez? Don’t bother.

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kurt.streeter@latimes.com