A-Rod not in Angels’ picture?

The Angels have no plans to launch their own television channel in order to sign Alex Rodriguez as the star, two sources said Friday.

“A-Rod TV is not an option,” a source close to Angels owner Arte Moreno said.

Rodriguez can declare himself a free agent within the next month, with an asking price that could top $30 million per season. A second source said he had spoken with Moreno this month and said the owner had no interest at that price.

“I don’t see a $20-million player on our team,” Moreno told The Times in August.

If Rodriguez opts out of his record contract with the New York Yankees, he would almost certainly seek a raise from a deal that guarantees him $27 million next season and $32 million in 2009 and 2010. Agent Scott Boras said Rodriguez “pays for himself” by delivering historic performances that increase attendance and television audiences.

The last point might not be moot, with the Angels two years into a 10-year, $500-million contract with FSN that apparently contains its own opt-out provision. Randy Freer, chief operating officer of Fox Sports Networks, declined to say when the Angels can invoke an escape clause or what the penalty might be. “The Angels do have some flexibility,” Freer said.

Rodriguez, 32, led the major leagues with 54 home runs and 156 runs batted in this season, in line for his third most valuable player award. He hit .314 and stole 24 bases.

Since Rodriguez arrived in 2004, Boras said, Yankees attendance has soared, and so have ratings and revenues at YES, the team-owned cable channel. Boras acknowledged the increases are not solely attributable to Rodriguez. He added, however, that the value of YES has jumped from $1 billion to $3 billion, at a time Forbes values the team at $1.2 billion.

The Angels would not need Rodriguez to drive attendance, because sellouts already are common at Angel Stadium.

“If your attendance is full, you can increase your revenue 20% by raising prices,” Boras said, “because you’ve brought in a star player.”

Moreno leveraged the threat of starting his own cable channel into the new Fox deal, which more than doubled the Angels’ broadcast revenue. On the other hand, YES pays the Yankees a direct rights fee roughly twice what FSN pays the Angels.

YES generated $340 million in revenue in 2006, according to Multichannel News. New York is the largest media market in the country; Southern California is No. 2.

Moreno did spend $42 million to buy 830 AM, the radio station that will carry the Angels broadcasts starting next season. Lee Berke, the New York consultant who helped launch YES and advised Moreno when he considered starting an Angels television channel, said Friday he had not discussed that concept with Moreno recently.

In addition to start-up infrastructure costs that Berke estimated at $15 to $20 million, the Angels might have to spend millions to buy out their deal with FSN and perhaps that of the Lakers, Clippers, Kings or Ducks so as to have year-round programming that would compel cable companies to carry the channel.

“We haven’t looked at it any further since we signed the deal with Fox,” Angels spokesman Tim Mead said.

The Dodgers declined to comment on whether they would be interested in starting such a channel or whether their FSN contract would let them. They might pursue a channel by extending their partnership with Time Warner Cable, which airs Dodgers interviews and features but no live games.

The Angels could offer FSN a stake in a new channel. When the Kings acquired Wayne Gretzky, Prime Ticket reimbursed the Kings for some of his salary.

“Gretzky assaulted all the records in hockey,” Boras said. “A-Rod is assaulting all the records in baseball.”

Rodriguez, the youngest player to hit 500 home runs, could break Barry Bonds’ all-time record with whatever club signs him this winter. Freer, the FSN executive, said Rodriguez would not drive ratings by his presence during a long contract, even if he did drive ratings in the weeks as he neared a record.

“It’s a blip on the screen,” Freer said. “Wins and losses are what create opportunity. Wins and losses create value for teams.”

No matter how many home runs Rodriguez hit, Berke said, he cannot take credit for the jump in the ratings.

“The Yankees have performed really well,” Berke said. “It’s tough to say that’s A-Rod’s doing.”

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bill.shaikin@latimes.com