Arlington, Texas ? The self-absorbed superstar we heard about in Chicago no longer exists. A humbled veteran has replaced him.

Sammy Sosa, the fifth player to ever hit 600 home runs, understands there may be only about 20 games left in his professional baseball career.

He’s OK with that.

Don’t miss the point. Sosa would love to play at least one more season, but he realizes that might not be an option. There’s just not a huge market for baggage-carrying, 38-year-old designated hitters who are best served by hitting only against left-handers.

These days, the Dominican Republic-born Sosa rarely plays more than once a week because the Texas Rangers are committed to giving at-bats to young players such as Jason Botts and Nelson Cruz. There’s no room in the lineup on a daily basis for an aging player like Sosa.

Not when the club is under .500 with no hope of making the playoffs.

It would be easy for Sosa to pout. Or whine. Or undermine Botts, who’s hitting only .224 with one homer and 10 RBIs in 28 games after putting together a superb season at Triple-A.

He won’t do it. Hasn’t even thought about it.

See, Sosa has changed.

Accepting his banishment to the bench is part of that. There’s also the sense of loyalty he feels toward the Rangers, the only club that believed in him enough to give him a contract.

The guy who joined the Rangers in the off-season and signed an incentive-laden deal that guaranteed him only $500,000 isn’t a superstar – real or imagined.

This guy isn’t making eight figures, though he has earned $1.6 million this season. He doesn’t grace the cover of magazines and have the media hanging on his every word.

This guy actually likes hanging around the clubhouse, especially now that his wife and kids have returned home to Miami for the start of school.

He’s enjoying every minute at the ballpark, whether he’s inspecting Cruz’s new black bat before a game a couple of weeks ago or doling out hitting advice to one of the young players.

This Sosa would’ve owned Chicago. Finally, he gets it.

Sosa would like to return next season. It’s not a good idea because we all know the Rangers aren’t going to the playoffs next season.

The organization is gearing up for 2009.

So next year needs to be another season committed to kids and finding out who can be part of the foundation in the future. Any other approach is a disservice to fans who keep shelling out hard-earned money to watch bad baseball year after year.

Sosa doesn’t help with that plan – even if the Rangers were to use him as a DH against left-handed hitters.