A-Rod isn't the only man in Arlington, Texas, who's made an art form of saying "all the right things".

No sir, no ma'am -- there's a guy who shares the same last name just a few lockers away in the Texas clubhouse who has the baseball world (media division) on "pop-off" alert.

And he's not delivering.

Ivan Rodriguez -- better known as Pudge, but unfortunately called I-Rod (he was Pudge before the "first-initial-abbreviated-last-name" thing came into vogue) -- has this year and next remaining on his current five-year, $40.2 million contract. For those scoring at home, that means the best all-around catcher in baseball will make about one-third of what the best all-around shortstop in baseball makes in 2002.

Not only that, but Pudge negotiated that contract on his own, accepting the "hometown discount" because his family was so happy in Texas he didn't want a contract dispute. Think that won him a few fans?

Well, the consensus now says Pudge is due, big-time. But if you were hoping the man himself has an opinion on this situation, well, he doesn't. Or, at least, he's not sharing.

"Not worth talking about, bro," he said to me when I asked if he thought owner Tom Hicks could afford both Rodriguezes. "I've got another year. I signed the contract and I'm happy with the contract. Like I said, I've got another year."

Ah, but the Pudge dilemma runs deeper than just a fat new deal for the catcher -- because, as we've seen this year, the Rangers of A- and I-Rod are awful. Funny how the best catcher and the best shortstop in the game can't pitch innings six through nine.

So a hot topic in Texas since the Rangers fell into the abyss has been: Should the Rangers give up Pudge for pitching?

Hicks floated that idea a couple of months ago, and the fans were horrified. The owner quickly recanted, said it was a goal of his to make Pudge a career Ranger, then had GM Doug Melvin talk to reporters about "the difference between signing a 25-year-old shortstop to a 10-year deal and a soon-to-be 30-year-old catcher to, say, a five-year deal."

This story is going to get interesting. It's got all the elements of a modern baseball docu-drama.

Think of the many plot-lines. A bad team. An owner who shelled out the biggest contract ever for a player, claiming he wants to build a franchise around him. A former so-called franchise player who's now due to "get his." A potential work stoppage on the horizon that could prolong the whole saga indefinitely.

Stay tuned.

"I think the club is going to do everything it can to make sure Pudge goes straight from the Texas Rangers to the Hall of Fame," A-Rod says. "I'm going to tie a ball and chain to his ankle."

Says Pudge: "Got another year, bro."

Jeff Bradley is a senior writer for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail him at jeff.bradley@espnmag.com.