A story of two A-Rods

Don't you just love it when you can take the first letter of a person's first name and the first few letters of a person's last name and turn it into a fashionable nickname that sounds like you are tight with that person?\nPeople have called me V-Tsou so long sometimes I cannot remember my real name. Actually, though, I have wanted to be called A-Rod for a long time now, even though there are few "A"s and fewer "Rod"s in my name.\nAfter all, who wouldn't want to be compared to Alex Rodriguez and Andy Roddick, both at the top of the A-Rod heap? Yet, studying their recent doings, I have noticed that there is an A-Rod scale of justice that remains incredibly balanced at all times.\nAs one A-Rod's career appears to be peaking, the other needs a boost.\nFirst, there's Andy Roddick. He's playing the best tennis of his career, probably the favorite at Wimbledon heading into the quarterfinals. Well, when you think about it, he has been the favorite during the whole tournament. After all, he won the Queen's Club tournament just prior to Wimbledon, perhaps the most prestigious grass court preparation event prior to the big W.\nArmed with a record-tying 149-mph serve, he beat Andre Agassi in a third-set tiebreak in the semis before beating the underrated Sebastien Grosjean in the finals. The win against Agassi was most impressive, though, because of his toughness at the match's most stressful points.\nGenerally, Roddick's temperament has not led to big match triumphs and a stocked trophy case. While I am not as easily bothered by showmanship and look-at-me poses as others are -- perhaps that's a generational thing -- I always thought Roddick looked silly pumping his fist after beating Johnny No-Name in the first round of some tournament, riling up the crowd after zipping a forehand by a guy with not even half his talent. Frankly, the fist pumps looked like part of an act.\nPlus, by dating a celebrity -- you didn't know he was dating singer-actress Mandy Moore? Gasp! -- he looked like a guy who enjoyed being famous and handsome more than being a good tennis player. When the going got tough, Roddick got going -- out of the tournament.\nAfter firing Tarik Benhabiles and replacing him with Brad Gilbert, Agassi's former coach, Roddick seems like he wants to win all of a sudden. Gilbert, meanwhile, seems to have simplified Roddick's thought process. Instead of trying to get him to charge and volley or play to the audience, he has narrowed Roddick's emphasis to his serve and his forehand. Roddick just blasts his serve and uses his hustle to run around to his forehand where he delivers the goods. Look out for him.\nOn the other hand, there's Alex Rodriguez. The Texas Rangers shortstop signed a 10-year, $252 million contract in December 2000, leaving the Seattle Mariners. What was a monstrous contract at the time looks even bigger now in light of the recent market correction. While Rodriguez, 27, still seems like the best player in the American League, the Rangers just get worse and worse in the AL West, the game's best division. At 32-50, the Rangers went into last night's game against Anaheim as close to next-to-last place as the Milwaukee Brewers, also terrible, are to first place.\nThe Rangers won just 73 and 72 games, respectively, in Rodriguez's first two years in Texas, so losing is getting to be old hat. Meanwhile, the Mariners won an AL-record 116 games in 2001 and won "only" 93 more last year. That they have the best record in baseball this year only rubs more salt in his wounds.\nTo be clear, it's not Rodriguez's fault the Rangers are awful. He continues to hit for average and power with good plate discipline and Gold Glove defense. The Rangers cannot claim they haven't received what they expected.\nNow it would be self-serving of me as a Cubs fan to suggest the Rangers trade him to the Cubs, so let me suggest this: Trade him to the Cubs. \nRangers owner Tom Hicks went from giving Rodriguez all that money to being one of the biggest strike hawks in less than two years. He certainly would listen.\nThe Cubs badly need another bat and have enough talented, cheap, young prospects the Rangers might like. Of course, he would need to waive his no-trade clause, and the Rangers would have to float a $50 million check as a reasonable request, but these are minor deals when you've gone 95 years without a world championship.