Mike Celizic

For Alex Rodriguez, this trip to San Francisco could be for more than an appearance in the All Star game. It could also be an audition.

It’s no secret that A-Rod can opt out of his contract at the end of this year with three years and $81 million still owed to him. It’s also no secret that his agent, Scott "Chutzpah" Boras, has scores of trial balloons floating around baseball front offices, with every one of them carrying a $30 million-per-season price tag for the next six or eight years of his client’s services.

It’s also public knowledge that the Giants are probably going to be saying goodbye to one highly compensated superstar at the end of the year when Barry Bonds takes his home-run record and limps off either into the sunset (which, being over the Pacific Ocean, would cheer some hearts) or into a DH role with an American League club. So San Francisco will be in the market for another superstar/lightning rod who’s never won a World Series, and who better to fill that role than the man whose wife wore a shirt to a game in Yankee Stadium that invited all in range to be subject to an adult experience?

Giants fans are used to people with personalities that are somewhat divergent from the norm. And A-Rod certainly has his quirks. But compared to Bonds, A-Rod is as normal as 24-hour days. It’s true that he’ll rarely give you a quote you can remember more than three minutes after hearing it, but he’ll never tell anyone to go diddle themselves (That’s his wife’s job.), he’ll never tell the media to go talk to someone else, he’ll never pass a group of fans without at least smiling, and his name will probably never come up in a drug investigation.

It is true that $30 million is more than half of a lot of payrolls in the major leagues. But the Giants are used to paying huge sums to one player and never winning a title in return for their investment. So A-Rod fits right into the corporate philosophy.

But the really cool thing is this: If the Giants sign A-Rod for as few as six years, the chances that he’ll break Bonds’ own home-run record while in a Giants uniform are up there with the chances of a six-pack disappearing in a fraternity house.

With 30 home runs at the break, A-Rod stands at 494. If he cools off during the second half and hits just 20 more, he’ll have 514 and he’ll be 32 years old. If he doesn’t cool off, he’ll have somewhere around 525. That would put him as few as 230 behind Hank Aaron.

So if he averages just 40 a year for six years, he could be passing Aaron and right on top of wherever Bonds ends up. In 11 seasons leading up to this one, he’s averaged better than 42, and in his past nine seasons it’s 45. The left-field line is a bit out there in AT&T Park -- 339 feet as opposed to 309 in right -- but the left-center power alley is a mere 364 as opposed to 421 in right center, and left-center is A-Rod’s happy spot. Barring injury, I’d say you can bank on him breaking the record on the Bay.

But wait, as in those 3 a.m. infomercials, there’s more. A-Rod also has 2,168 hits and at his current pace will finish the year with more than 2,250, meaning that he will need just 750 more for 3,000, which is 125 a year for six years.

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Bonds has 2,902 hits and isn’t going to get 98 more in the second half. So if the Giants sign A-Rod, they can get a player who will not only break whatever record Bonds put up, but also surpass 3,000 hits in a Giants uniform.

I know there’s talk out there that the Angels would love to put a halo on A-Rod, and there have even been reports that Tom Hicks, the Rangers owner who agreed to pay him $250 million for ten years, is interested in getting him back.

It’s easy to see why the Angels would want him -- he’s a great player and can help get the team back to the Series. It’s also easy to see why Hicks would want him -- it’s an easy way to throw away money without winning anything, which is what Hicks does better than any team other than the New York Knicks.

But let’s be real. A-Rod belongs in a Giants’ uniform. It’s a great city that isn’t offended by messages on t-shirts. It’s a team that’s used to paying big money to one superstar. And if you buy him, you also buy all the excitement of another record chase.

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And at the end of his career, you’ll be able to look at the top five home run hitters of all time and find A-Rod, Bonds, Aaron, Ruth and Mays -- that’s three Giants out of five. Where else can you buy that kind of history?

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