Michael Ventre

I can just picture the scenario, “Alex from the Bronx” on the line to a New York talk show to express his unhappiness. He wants to feel “wanted here.”

Ordinarily, talk show callers come and go. But this one left a lasting impression. In fact, it was Alex Rodriguez’s recent declaration about wanting to be wanted by the Yankees and their fans that set off alarm bells across the baseball landscape. If the Department of Homeland Security were handling this, the threat level would be raised to triple red.

Meanwhile, the juicy sound bite reverberated up and down the opposite coast. Talk show callers in Southern California were especially energized. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim need a bat. A-Rod has a good one.

With all of this momentum being generated by talk show geeks, who needs general managers? Brian Cashman of the Yankees and Bill Stoneman of the Angels will just muck up the works with their absurd concerns over money and players. Leave this bit of business up to the people who know best: The denizens of the peanut gallery.

But whichever parties engineer the deal, make no mistake: This is a deal that cries out to be engineered. It is not only the proverbial trade that benefits both sides, it also will placate fans across the land as well as A-Rod’s family and agent. In fact, the only people I can imagine being opposed to it are talk show hosts, because it would interrupt a constant flow of gossip in and around the Bombers and place A-Rod in a situation where the worst that could happen is he alienates Orlando Cabrera, and really, who cares?

This is coming about because Alex Rodriguez can opt out of his contract after this season. And since the Yankees have announced they will not try to sign him to an extension, you can bet he'll do it. Speculation has had A-Rod going to any one of baseball’s big spenders — Mets, Red Sox, Dodgers, Cubs, White Sox, Giants, et al. — so the season of 2007 is developing into a slow twist in the wind, only the Yankees will be the ones twisting.

This will not die down. This will not drift off and be overshadowed by the pyrotechnics of the Yanks-Red Sox rivalry, or another debate over whether A-Rod is a worthy MVP candidate.

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Because of the clause, this entire 2007 season will be a “What will A-Rod do?” mystery. Derek Jeter will be asked his feelings about A-Rod’s future every day. Ditto for Joe Torre, Andy Pettitte and the rest. The Yankees are a trashy reality show during normal circumstances. With this taking center stage, the needle on the freak barometer will spin out of control.

It almost did earlier this spring, when A-Rod made his now-infamous lament about how he and Jeter aren’t palling around like they used to, leading observers to wonder whether this was a baseball team or the Rat Pack.

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Hammering out a trade makes the most sense for everyone involved. Sure, it will hurt the Yankees to lose his numbers in the lineup, but presumably they’ll get a stick in return, and they already have enough lumber with which to compete. And besides, if he opts out, they’ll lose him anyway. This way at least they get something of value in return.

Despite the fact that the Angels have little in their lineup to support Vlad Guerrero, they did little in the offseason to improve save for signing Gary Matthews Jr., who in his short time with the club may have already burnished Southern California’s reputation as a mecca of artificial enhancement.

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