Future isn’t Colletti’s only concern

NASHVILLE -- Dodgers General Manager Ned Colletti said that more than an unwillingness to compromise his club’s future has prevented him from trading for a middle-of-the-order bat or top-of-the-rotation arm. Because the deals discussed to date would cost the Dodgers multiple major leaguers, he said, they would also compromise the present.

“Whether they’re young players or established veterans, if you don’t have suitable replacements, it doesn’t matter if they’re 23 or 33,” Colletti said.

From today to Wednesday, Colletti and other Dodgers executives will be searching for more agreeable proposals during the winter meetings at the Opryland Hotel.

Colletti and Manager Joe Torre strongly suggested last week that if the right deal can’t be found, they would be comfortable heading into spring training with a club short on experience.

Colletti, who won’t have Torre at his side at the meetings, admitted he would be less reluctant to part with his club’s prized young players if he had adequate replacements in hand. But there are few such candidates on the free-agent market, and those who are come with hefty price tags.

The top prizes, Alex Rodriguez, Mike Lowell and Torii Hunter, already signed elsewhere. And the two center fielders who interest the Dodgers, Andruw Jones and Aaron Rowand, are asking for more than the club is willing to pay.

“We have an understanding of what they want to do, what they think they should be paid and for how long,” Colletti said. “We aren’t at the same places.”

If Jones and Rowand don’t scale back their demands, the Dodgers could turn their attention to Mike Cameron, who will sit out the first 25 games of next season for testing positive for a banned stimulant.

Whether the addition of a center fielder would make Colletti comfortable enough to part with the likes of Matt Kemp remains to be seen.

The Dodgers are among the teams interested in Florida third baseman Miguel Cabrera, but the Marlins asked them for a package that included Kemp, first baseman James Loney and top pitching prospect Clayton Kershaw.

A baseball source said the Marlins have no intention of backing down on their demands.

The Dodgers have also found the asking prices for left-handers Johan Santana of the Minnesota Twins and Erik Bedard of the Baltimore Orioles to be too high.

Making a deal for Santana less likely is that his contract expires at the end of the 2008 season and he has a full no-trade clause, meaning he would probably have to be signed to a long-term extension. The extension would probably be for six years and be worth around $20 million per season.

With Santana and Bedard likely out of their price range, the Dodgers will probably ask the Oakland Athletics this week about Dan Haren or Joe Blanton.

The Dodgers haven’t shown strong interest in any free-agent starting pitchers other than Japanese right-hander Hiroki Kuroda, who on Friday declared his intentions to leave his homeland to pitch in the majors.

The Dodgers were interested in re-signing left-hander Randy Wolf at a reduced rate after they paid $500,000 to buy out his $9-million option for next season, but not enough to move as quickly as Wolf wanted.

Wolf, who is recovering from shoulder surgery, has agreed to the terms of a one-year deal with the San Diego Padres that will reportedly pay him a base salary of $4 million and an additional $5 million if he meets all of his incentives.

Relief pitching is a need that could be addressed on the open market.

Colletti said he isn’t expecting to have to fill a hole at second base; the general manager spoke to Jeff Kent last week and remains convinced he will return. Kent said at the end of last season that he might forgo his $9-million salary and retire.

“If he doesn’t come back, we’ll have another player or two,” Colletti said. “But I don’t foresee that.”

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dylan.hernandez@latimes.com