Call this one a tale of two players.

Alex Rodriguez will arrive at Yankees’ spring training today. He will be accorded the same greeting usually reserved for media day at the Super Bowl.

Meanwhile, J.C. Romero will go about his business in Clearwater with the Phils pretty much in anonymity.

There’s another big difference. Rodriguez, who admitted that he used steroids during three years with the Texas Rangers, will almost assuredly be in the Yankees’ starting lineup on opening day.

Romero will not be available in his crucial set-up role out of the bullpen for the Phils when they open their defense of their World Series crown – and the Major League Baseball season - with a Sunday night prime-time game on April 5. In fact, he is out for the first 50 games of the season after he tested positive for a banned substance.

Romero bought the stuff at a local store, and says he made several inquiries as to whether it would put him in any jeopardy and was assured that it would not. He probably won’t make that mistake again. In the meantime, he can practice with the team in Florida this spring, he just can’t play once the regular season starts.

So who did something wrong, here? Rodriguez admits he used steroids. Romero admits he made a mistake. The difference is that Rodriguez’s transgression happened back before baseball was testing for steroids and other banned substances.

There doesn’t seem to be any penalty for Rodriguez, outside of being the focus of the media world for today.

In the meantime, Romero and the Phils have to be scratching their heads wondering exactly how this is supposed to be fair.

The truth is that it isn’t fair. Life usually isn’t. But anyone who can now look at the 50-game automatic suspension slapped on Romero and wonder about the justice of it would seem to have a good argument.

Baseball should take another look at these two cases. They can’t really do anything to Rodriguez. But they can still deliver something akin to justice in the case of Romero.