POST ’87 SCRIPTS : DODGERS: After Downhill Slide, O’Malley Faces a Rebuilding Job

It was only the second game of the season, but the Dodgers already were a mess. All the portents of a bleak Dodger future were quite evident that early April night in the Houston Astrodome.

Al Campanis, the club’s longtime vice president, had questioned the inherent ability of blacks to manage in baseball during a nationally televised interview the previous night. He would be fired the next morning. Speaking of lacking the necessities, the team itself was in the process of recording the second of what would be 89 losses.

Peter O’Malley, the Dodger owner, was enduring this organizational crumbling from his seat in the first row. At one point, he turned to an acquaintance and said: “I think it’s going to be a long year.”

Long and ignominious as it was, the Dodgers’ season of futility has ended. Now, O’Malley will access the considerable damage from the club’s first consecutive losing seasons since 1967-68 and make several critical management and player decisions that will alter the future, and perhaps fortunes, of a once-dominant franchise gone bad.

O’Malley’s most important and difficult decision will be the choice of a new leader. Vice President Fred Claire, Campanis’ replacement, says he wants to keep the job. Manager Tom Lasorda also wants the job, and speculation has raged that Lasorda will leave the organization for another as a general manager if he is not promoted to the front office.

All sorts of solutions to this intriguing dilemma have been circulating in recent months, but only O’Malley has the answer. He said recently that he will make a decision some time in October, perhaps as early as this week.

“I’m not going to speculate in the meantime,” O’Malley said. “I will not respond to any rumors. . . . The most important thing is that we have all the right pieces in the right places and have them in place at some time. I’m not locked into any particular date.”

One resolution would have Claire and Lasorda share the authority, though it is believed Lasorda would balk at such an arrangement. Or maybe O’Malley will look outside the organization and hire an experienced general manager, though he denied an earlier report out of Toronto that Blue Jays’ Pat Gillick will take command in 1988.

What is apparent is that Lasorda, 60, has grown tired of managing after 11 seasons with the Dodgers, the last two being quite taxing. He insists he still bleeds Dodger blue after 38 years in the organization, but a transfusion of Philadelphia red or Chicago Cub blue or Yankee pinstripes might not be painful if any of those clubs offer him front-office power. The Cubs and Yankees have already asked O’Malley for permission to talk to Lasorda, according to one report from East Coast sources.

Over the weekend, Lasorda said he has not talked to representatives from any other team. Lasorda, signed to manage the Dodgers through the next season, said he will not think about going elsewhere until his status with the Dodgers is determined.

“I have a contract for one more year,” Lasorda said. “I have to obligate that contract. I’m hoping and praying (the Dodgers) want me and keep me.”

Asked if he would want to remain with the Dodgers strictly as manager and without any front-office authority instead of seeking a better arrangement, Lasorda said:

“If that’s what he (O’Malley) wants, that’s what he gets. I’m loyal to him.”

There are other, less high profile, management decisions to be made. Bill Scheweppe, the club’s 73-year-old minor league operations administrator, has retired. O’Malley has been interviewing candidates since early summer and is expected to announce a replacement soon. Rumors also persist that scouting director Ben Wade, who turns 65 in November, will be eased into retirement because of the widespread criticism that department has received this season.

Once the front-office maneuvering has been completed--or maybe even during that process--the purging of the Dodger roster will begin. Not only will the Dodgers rid themselves of many of the veteran fringe players Claire brought in to try to plug holes, they also figure to make a few significant trades.

Claire has said there are no “untouchables” among Dodgers players, and O’Malley said he will consider all alternatives. Claire has talked about building the club around speed, defense, pitching and youth, prompting speculation that such notables as Mike Marshall and Pedro Guerrero will be made available to interested teams.

Among the players that the Dodgers figure will be available to them via trades, for a steep asking price, of course, are New York Yankees center fielder Rickey Henderson and Baltimore Orioles first baseman Eddie Murray.

Changes certainly seem imperative. The Dodgers finished last in the National League in team batting average, runs scored, on-base percentage. They finished first in the league in errors and 10th in saves. If not for their solid starting pitching and a strong finish, the Dodgers could have easily slipped to last place for the first time since 1905.

It still appears highly unlikely, however, that the Dodgers will change their philosophy concerning the signing of high-priced free agents, even though the club was strongly criticized by many fans and press for not signing free-agent outfielder Tim Raines last winter.

“I’d like to see us dip into the free-agent market, break that tradition,” said pitcher Orel Hershiser, one of the most outspoken Dodgers. “I don’t think we have enough talent to trade for talent. That’s like treading water.

“Given the past, I don’t see much hope for (signing free agents). . . . I’m not trying to tell Mr. O’Malley what to do, but I’m a frustrated player and we’d like to see some moves.”

O’Malley remains conveniently vague when asked about what course the Dodgers will take in rebuilding.

“There are three opportunities, three different ways, of helping the ball club in 1988 and we’re going to look at all three opportunities,” said O’Malley, referring to trading, free-agent signing and promoting minor league prospects.

No matter who winds up in charge of the daily operation of the club and the manner in which the Dodgers try to rebuild, O’Malley has promised that the Dodgers will be a contending team in 1988.

If O’Malley’s promise of a revival in 1988 is to be achieved, it will entail making the correct off-season moves. And there certainly are many to be made:

I want to continue working for the Dodgers even when I’m dead and gone. Just put the Dodgers’ schedule on my tombstone every year. When people are visiting their loved ones, at the cemetery, they can come by my grave and see if the Dodgers are at home or away.

--TOM LASORDA, circa 1965 Lasorda had that famous exchange with Walter O’Malley, the late Dodger owner, when he still was a minor league manager. Throughout his 11 seasons as the Dodger manager, Lasorda has continued to deliver the Dodger Blue gospel and appeal to the Great Dodger In The Sky.

He has been the epitome of the company man. Even now, when asked about his upwardly mobile aspirations with the Dodgers, Lasorda maintains that he will do “whatever Peter O’Malley wants me to do.”

Yet, there are indications that Lasorda is growing tired of the grind of field managing, especially considering the Dodgers had an identical 73-89 record the last two seasons. About once a month during the season, there was a report that Lasorda was headed to a front-office position with another team in 1988. Asked last month to comment on all the rumors, Lasorda quipped: “At least they have me going to nice cities: New York, Chicago, Philadelphia . . . “

The three clubs reportedly interested in Lasorda are the New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs and Philadelphia Phillies. Lasorda has family, friends and favorite restaurants in all three cities, but it would take a front-office position--or a managerial position with player personnel authority--to lure Lasorda away.

The Phillies have rehired Lee Elia as manager for next season, so President Bill Giles would have to defer some of his authority should they hope to land Lasorda. George Steinbrenner, owner of the Yankees, is a friend of Lasorda, but they already have a general manager (Woody Woodward). Dallas Green would have to be dismissed as general manager of the Cubs to make room for Lasorda in Chicago.

So, in that respect, Lasorda also is in line to become the president of Chrysler, assuming Lee Iacocca will step aside.

Lasorda has categorically dismissed the talk of his voluntary departure, insisting he still wants to work for the Dodgers, even posthumously.

“I haven’t discussed (Lasorda’s future) with Peter yet,” Lasorda said last week. “We have talked about the season and next season.

“I think everybody’s anxiously awaiting that decision. It’s a big decision for the organization. I think Peter’s got a lot of things on his mind. I know he’s just as disappointed as we all are.”

Lasorda said he doesn’t want his front-office aspirations to be construed as giving up on the Dodgers.

“The easiest thing for anybody to do is the jump off the wagon,” Lasorda said. “I believe this team can turn it around. . . . We’re not a real bad organization. Don’t think that for a minute. We’ve had two bad seasons, that’s all. I believe this team can turn it around. This team will be good in 1988.”

Lasorda also denies that he is tired of managing. But at times this season, he has looked physically and mentally drained.

“I love managing,” Lasorda said. “I love my job. I hate to see the season end, even this season. Have you seen me, at any time this season, lose my drive or enthusiasm? I don’t like to lose, and I get (upset) when we do, but I’m always back here (in his clubhouse office) the next day.”

At the same time, Lasorda also has made vague references about wanting to hold a new office next season, one flanking O’Malley’s on Dodger Stadium’s club level.

Claire seemingly has squatter’s rights on the vice presidency. Since being thrust into the job after being in charge of the daily operations of the front office since 1982, Claire has cosmetically changed the Dodger roster. He acquired eight players who were not on the spring training roster. Though several of Claire’s acquisitions had little impact (Phil Garner, Tito Landrum, Danny Heep), he did acquire promising pitcher Tim Belcher from Oakland for Rick Honeycutt and competent center fielder John Shelby for relief pitcher Tom Niedenfuer.

Although Claire failed to make a blockbuster trade during the season, it wasn’t that he didn’t try. One theory is that Claire wanted to make a major trade, most likely involving Marshall, to solidify his position as the decision-maker.

Claire denies this. But he said recently that he is approaching his job as if he had a long-term commitment, which might be the case.

Some think that O’Malley will retain Claire, who has vast business experience and is cast in O’Malley’s prudent and conservative mold. But others maintain that the Dodgers cannot afford to lose the colorful Lasorda, who has considerably more baseball knowledge than Claire, if not the front-office savvy. O’Malley acknowledges that he is faced with a delicate problem. But he remained noncommittal.

“I think it’s a healthy situation,” said O’Malley, when asked about the supposed competition for the vice presidency. “First of all, Fred’s done an outstanding job on the shortest notice possible. . . . I would rate his job performance very, very high.

“At the same time, you have Tommy, who’s been with us for many, many years. He enjoys being a manager and does his job very, very well. At the same time, he has said privately and publicly that someday he would like to be a general manager. I think the challenge and opportunity to manage a major league club is just as important as it was to the (first) day he managed.”

Whoever eventually takes charge of the Dodgers’ daily operation faces a major renovation project. It is conceivable that the Dodgers could have almost a completely difference lineup next April than they had at any point this season.

The only area in which Dodger management is satisfied is the club’s starting pitching, one of the best in baseball.

The Dodgers have three quality starters in Fernando Valenzuela (14-14), Orel Hershiser (16-16) and Bob Welch (15-9), whose records almost assuredly would have been better had the Dodgers not ranked last in offense and first in errors. The Dodgers also are encouraged by the recent performances of young starters Tim Belcher (4-2) and Shawn Hillegas (4-3), who got a victory Sunday in the season finale against San Diego by going six innings and allowing two runs and five hits.

Good pitching can only help a club so much, as the 1987 Dodgers showed.

Even with a healthy and productive Guerrero back, the Dodgers’ offense still proved impotent. Because of that, Dodger management was criticized by fans and even some Dodger players for not signing Raines, the 1986 batting champion, after he wrote the Dodgers two letters expressing interest in playing in Los Angeles.

Collusion may or may not be the main reason behind the Dodgers’ snubbing of Raines. O’Malley was burned in the free-agent pool in 1979-80 when he signed high-priced pitchers Dave Goltz and Don Stanhouse. Both flopped as Dodgers and, since then, O’Malley has not been in the market.

O’Malley was asked whether, in retrospect, he should have signed Raines or made other moves last winter to avoid another second-division finish.

“At the time, we had reason for optimism,” O’Malley said. “And even our experts or critics in the media were picking us to do well. Not all, but some did. . . . Looking back at should we have traded someone, should we have not brought up a player when we did or should we have acquired a free agent, that is so speculative.”

Looking to the off-season, neither O’Malley nor Claire ruled out big trades or free-agent signing, but they did indicate that building from within is a good practice.

“The philosophy that I hold is to build from our farm system,” Claire said. “That is what made the Dodgers successful. When you trade, you give up quality to get it.”

That may be true, but Claire has said there are no “untouchables” on the Dodger roster. It is believed that Guerrero, who is 31 and has taken a physical beating this season, is primary trade bait.

Also on the trading block is Marshall, whose myriad of injuries this season resulted in one fight with teammate Phil Garner, a verbal battle with Guerrero and a strained relationship with most of his other teammates.

In addition to soon-to-be free agents such as Jack Clark and Dale Murphy, the Yankees apparently have made Henderson available and the Orioles’ Murray can be had if the Dodgers want to assume his lucrative contract.

“I think if you look at us over the years, it’s been a combination of all three opportunities,” O’Malley said. “We have been involved in free agency. We have strongly relied on our farm system and we’ve made good trades. We’ve also made mistakes . . . but that’s part of the business of trading. You don’t always get an edge when you make a trade.”

Most teams figure to ask for one of the Dodgers’ top three pitchers in trade talks, and O’Malley and Claire most likely will balk at parting with Valenzuela, Hershiser or Welch. “I think you have to determine where your strength is and build on that,” O’Malley said. “And it seems to me our strength is in starting pitching. With excellent starting pitching, as I believe we have, it follows that you should have good defense behind the starting pitching.”

Added Claire: “We still have to have open, not closed, doors for trades. By the same token, we have to build around our strength, which is starting pitching. . . . If someone thinks one trade can make you a winning team right away, that’s overly optimistic, I think.”

Except for catcher Mike Scioscia, whose solid defense and adequate offense gives him some security, no member of the Dodger infield is safe.

“I feel we have to make some changes with our position players,” Lasorda said. “We know what our needs are and we have to fill those voids.”

Franklin Stubbs started the season at first base, except when left-handed pitchers faced the Dodgers. Then, utility man Mickey Hatcher played first. After Hatcher got hurt, Guerrero was shifted from left field to first base, where he finished the season.

The Dodgers don’t seem to have confidence in Stubbs’ ability, so first base might be Guerrero’s, unless he is traded.

Second baseman Steve Sax’s batting average plunged from .332 in 1986 to .280 this season, although he finished up by going 3 for 3 with a homer and 2 RBIs against San Diego Sunday.

But management mostly has been disheartened by Sax’s defense. His throwing problems have long-since ceased, but he had considerable problems turning double plays and making some of the routine plays.

So, in mid-September, Claire acquired second baseman Mike Sharperson from Toronto and declared open competition for the job. There also has been talk that deposed Dodger shortstop Mariano Duncan will be working out at second base at the Arizona Instructional League and in winter ball. Sax will either retain his starting spot, or switch to the outfield or switch teams.

The Dodgers have several shortstop candidates, none of whom has greatly distinguished himself.

Duncan, who spent most of the last two seasons nursing injuries, a sickly batting average and a swollen error total, has fallen into disfavor. Dave Anderson also has a detailed history of injuries and has never hit over. 245 for the Dodgers. Glenn Hoffman, a late-season acquisition, has been the most consistent of the three, but the Dodgers will continue their search.

After Bill Madlock’s early-season release, Jeff Hamilton and Tracy Woodson figured to vie for the starting spot at third base. Injuries and poor performance hurt both, and Hatcher, Garner and Anderson spent most the time there. However, Hamilton and Woodson figure to battle for the spot in spring training. Hamilton, rated one of the Pacific Coast League’s top 10 prospects by the managers, rates the edge over Woodson.

The bullpen was an improvement from 1986, which isn’t saying much. Matt Young, who finished the season with elbow problems, is a capable left-handed reliever. Alejandro Pena finished strongly, recording five saves in the final three weeks of the season, and rookie Tim Crews has showed some promise, but the relief corps still is weak.

Lasorda said recently that, early in the season, he considered moving Hershiser to the bullpen because the Dodgers lacked a reliable right-handed reliever. “I didn’t want to do it but we thought about it,” Lasorda said.

Said Claire: “We lost about 30 games by one run. More than half of our losses were decided by one or two runs. That means if we had gotten that extra hit or a save from the bullpen, we might have won a lot of those games.”

The Dodgers’ biggest questions are in the outfield. If Marshall and/or Guerrero are traded or permanently moved to first base, it would open one or two outfield spots, assuming Stubbs is not shifted back to left field. And if the Dodgers decide Shelby is not their center fielder of the future, or present, all three starting spots could be open.

The club could go two ways: Either go with their minor league outfield prospects, such as Mike Devereaux, Ralph Bryant, Jose Gonzalez and Chris Gwynn, and give them time to develop, or go outside for veteran outfielders.

As for the bench, the Dodgers figure to be parting with several familiar names. Ken Landreaux’s contract is up, and so is his Dodger career. Len Matuszek, injured most of the season, will have to fight Hatcher, Landrum (who has a guaranteed contract next season) and Heep among others for a utility role.

“We heard a lot about shakedowns after last season, but started with the same lineup except for (Greg) Brock (traded to Milwaukee) missing,” Hershiser said. “It was frustrating because management had the option of signing Timmy Raines. But that didn’t happen.

“They’ve talked a lot about changes. If they don’t (make changes), it would be like a carrot out in front of us. That’s tempting to the fans and players and then not letting us have it.”

Basically, the Dodgers will decide which of O’Malley’s three options--free agency, trades or building from within--they want to pursue.

Signing a high-profile free agent or trading for a big name such as Henderson or Murray might immediately improve the Dodgers but leave them vulnerable for the future. If the club decides to go with youth, they might continue to struggle for a season or two while the rebuilding process takes hold.

It’s all a matter of philosophy, which doesn’t figure to vary that much depending on whether Claire, Lasorda or someone outside the organization takes control this winter.

“It’s still Peter’s team,” Lasorda said. “Peter makes the decisions.”

O’Malley, in turn, is predicting an immediate reversal of fortunes.

“I believe the down years are behind us,” he said. “And just as you said in your question, some have said it will take longer than a year or two or three to get the ball club back in first place. There are others who say we aren’t that far away . . .

“This is a high risk, volatile business. There are years when you’re up and years when you’re down. You can’t win every year. No team has been able to do that. We have not been in contention for two years. We’re doing everything possible to get back into contention--in 1988.”