Dodgers Say Hart Is Still in It

A day that began with the Dodgers pleased to have re-signed outfielder Jose Cruz Jr. to a one-year contract ended with them being perplexed by a report that another top candidate for general manager isn’t interested.

A highly placed Texas Ranger source told the Dallas Morning News that John Hart, a special advisor and the team’s former general manager, planned to inform Dodger owner Frank McCourt over the phone Friday night that he would remain with the Rangers.

However, the Dodgers apparently got a different message from Hart. They still plan to interview him in person early next week and have no intention of making a hire before the general manager meetings begin Tuesday in Palm Springs.

“We aren’t commenting on the selection process, but we have no reason to believe he doesn’t have interest,” Dodger spokeswoman Camille Johnston said late Friday night.

Hart did not return phone calls to his home in Florida.

It does appear the Dodgers are close to hiring Orel Hershiser in some capacity. At a speaking engagement in Denton, Texas, Tom Lasorda told reporters, “We’re going to do something with him very shortly.”

Hershiser, the Texas pitching coach, interviewed with McCourt and Lasorda more than a week ago for the job of field manager, and his name has also surfaced in the search for a GM.

Lasorda, who is McCourt’s senior advisor, has said Hershiser lacks the experience to become manager or GM at this time, leaving the impression the former Dodger great would accept a lower-level front office position and gradually take on responsibility. However, the pool of candidates with GM experience has been drying up.

Earlier in the week, Pat Gillick, McCourt’s first choice, turned down the Dodgers to become GM of the Philadelphia Phillies. Another candidate, Gerry Hunsicker, took a front-office position with Tampa Bay.

In addition to his duties as Texas pitching coach, Hershiser was an advisor to Hart, who is a GM candidate along with Dodger assistant GM Kim Ng and former Red Sox GM Theo Epstein. The Dodgers plan to interview Ng in the next few days and speak to Epstein on Monday.

Until a GM is hired, Ng and vice president of player development Roy Smith are handling Dodger front-office duties. Bringing back Cruz was a priority because the status of center fielder Milton Bradley is in limbo.

Cruz, 31, will be paid $2.91 million in 2006 and the deal includes a team option for 2007 at $4.5 million and a $300,000 buyout. In 47 games after being acquired from Boston on Aug. 9, he batted .301 with six home runs and 22 runs batted in.

If Bradley does not return, J.D. Drew could move to center field and Cruz could play right. The Dodgers could pursue another power-hitting outfielder through free agency or a trade, although Smith said only that the team is in the market for “a bat.”

Bradley, who is rehabilitating from knee surgery, spoke to Smith at Dodger Stadium on Friday. He went on the disabled list Aug. 25, one day after ignoring a gag order from manager Jim Tracy and escalating a simmering dispute with Jeff Kent by accusing his teammate of not communicating well with African Americans.

“Milton has to get healthy, especially physically,” Smith said.

The Dodgers haven’t decided what to do with Bradley, who made $2.5 million last season. They could decline to offer arbitration (which would make him a free agent), trade him or sign him.

McCourt, who publicly supported Bradley through several problems on and off the field, is not inclined to bring him back, a source said. However, others in the organization want to give him another chance.