Dodgers’ Course Remains Unsettled

On the eve of baseball’s general manager meetings, I was wondering what Frank McCourt would say to an employee who changed the course of the family franchise, had no alternate plan, and then hid behind the PR people.

After, “Get out,” I mean.

And wondering whether two years ago, had he been offered the organization and its holdings and found it to be in the condition it is today, would he have hocked everything and bought in?

Perhaps not.

In the last week, the pool of veteran, talented and available general managers has been drained to ankle level, and McCourt is still out there, sloshing around, never having had a shot at Pat Gillick or Gerry Hunsicker.

Maybe he can talk Theo Epstein into taking over Paul DePodesta’s new mortgage in Santa Monica, but as a friend of both young, unemployed general managers observed, “They’re the same guy, cut from the same cloth. The only difference is, one went to the division series and the other went to the World Series. Maybe Theo’s got more of an edge to him, but he’s not as clever as Paul.”

Great. Start printing the nameplate.

Once, it was one of the golden jobs in the game.

Now, the Macy’s makeup counter has less turnover.

It is McCourt’s team. He gets to wear the nice suits and hang the thick glass doors between himself and the help, whatever their names are.

He gets to fire his top baseball man on the eve of the free-agent season, nine days before the GM meetings, at a time when, to paraphrase Joe Namath, it’s closing time and John Schuerholz just ain’t walkin’ in.

In case it wasn’t utterly obvious before, baseball has come to a new era. There’s money to be had again, and the current organizational plan is only as good as last night’s attendance, and next week’s bank statement.

It is the secure and steadfast leader who trusts his baseball people. In a $5-billion industry, it takes courage. But some try.

As one owner said recently, “I’m not going to meddle in baseball affairs. I’m going to put my faith and confidence in the person I hire, but I’ll also hold him accountable. Of course, there will be decisions the GM will want my input on. There will be those rare decisions where I’ll be a consultant. But 99.9% of what’s done on the baseball side will be handled by baseball professionals.”

Wait, that was Frank McCourt. Less than two years ago.

So far, that 0.1% has included a lot of baseball-professional work, and it’s that time of year again, when the baseball professionals do that baseball-professional stuff, such as putting next season’s club together.

That leaves Kim Ng and Roy Smith to continue DePodesta’s vision, create their own vision, or predict the new guy’s vision, with the next deadline arriving on the weekend, when teams may begin negotiating with other teams’ free agents.

The general managers and substitute general managers arrive today in Indian Wells, where they’ll spend three or four days considering a thin free-agent class and taking numbers outside Scott Boras’ suite. The dearth of free agents is expected to feed a lively trade market and, again, the Dodger baseball professionals will have to wing it.

The Dodgers allowed Jeff Weaver to drift into free agency, so they require at least one starting pitcher along with an outfielder, assuming they stand firm on their Milton Bradley decision, and at least one corner infielder.

They will find top-end free agents resistant to a franchise that carried 91 losses, front-office upheaval and no manager or coaching staff into the off-season. Their best scenario would be a liberated, thrill-seeking Hideki Matsui, who for the Dodgers would play every day, hit most of the time and become, with Eric Gagne, the face of the organization, but that would take a big-time sales job by somebody.

More likely, Matsui returns to the New York Yankees, and the Dodgers look over Brian Giles and, in a lurch, Johnny Damon. Nomar Garciaparra would play third base for them, and they’d be wise to make one more call to Gillick to see how he will resolve the Jim Thome-Ryan Howard issue in Philadelphia. The Dodgers believe help is on the way from the minors, but they can’t take another fourth-place hit while waiting. And avoiding that is going to cost them in dollars and, maybe, one or two of those prospects.

Interestingly, the most popular franchise representatives in the desert today will come from the Boston Red Sox, who also don’t have a general manager, but, for the moment, do have Manny Ramirez. The Angels and New York Mets appear to have the goods and the standing to acquire the slugger, who has the right to veto trades.

The Dodgers aren’t expected to be players there, but have plenty of other work ahead. In that, and for now, Smith and Ng are on their own.

If they’re lucky.

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Baseball calendar

* Through Thursday -- Free-agent filing period.

* Today-Friday -- General managers meetings, Indian Wells.

* Nov. 16-17 -- Owners meetings at Milwaukee.

* Dec. 5-8 -- Winter meetings at Dallas.

* Dec. 5-9 -- Major League Baseball Players Assn. executive board meetings, Henderson, Nev.

* Dec. 7 -- Last day for teams to offer salary arbitration to their former players who became free agents.

* Dec. 19 -- Last day for free agents offered salary arbitration to accept or reject the offers.

* Dec. 20 -- Last day for teams to offer 2006 contracts to unsigned players.