BASEBALL / ROSS NEWHAN : Dodger Payroll Could End Up Weighing Down Team Options

The Dodgers were toting more than the usual baggage when they arrived in Florida.

With Ramon Martinez and several young players still to be signed, they already are carrying the heftiest payroll in club history, with the possibility that it will wind up as the largest in baseball history.

Based on the 25 players who were on the roster Aug. 31, the Oakland Athletics set the record last year at $38.9 million. The Dodgers set a club record of $35.5 million.

Totaling the 1992 salaries of 22 players who have a shot at the opening-day roster (Dave Hansen, Eric Karros and Jose Offerman also are unsigned), the Dodger payroll is $40,449,500.

That’s an average of $1,838,614 per player, or about $1 million more than the 1991 major league average and $1.3 million more than the club average five years ago.

Sixteen of the 22 have salaries of $1 million or more, 11 are at $2 million or more and five are at $3 million or more, headed by Darryl Strawberry at $3.75 million and Tom Candiotti at $3.5 million.

The only other clubs that might top the $40-million plateau and challenge the Dodgers for the all-time high are the A’s, New York Mets, Boston Red Sox and Toronto Blue Jays.

“We’re concerned by what’s happening to the economics of baseball and the economics of our club, but we’re also striving to be competitive,” said Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president.

“Our payroll is a reflection of the times, the system and the obligation we have to our fans.

“I mean, we were dealing with a number of players who had free-agent and arbitration rights, and that’s all a part of the decision-making process.”

No win: The clubs had an 11-9 edge in the 20 arbitration cases that went to a hearing this year and hold a 187-154 lead since the process began in 1974, but it’s still a system the owners despise.

Consider:

--The 157 players who filed for arbitration this year received a total salary increase of $112,040,000. That’s an average raise of $713,631 and an overall increase of 100.9%.

--Don Mattingly, whose 1987 award of $1.975 million had stood as the arbitration record until last year, has dropped to 12th on the all-time list, topped six times this year and five last year.

--Although the Dodgers avoided hearings with all eight of the players with whom they exchanged figures, the eight received a total salary increase of $3,141,445, an average of $392,681.

Cubs’ concern: With time running out before the National League has to adopt a 1993 schedule including the Florida Marlins and Denver Rockies, the Cubs remain the strongest--and basically only--opposition to realignment.

The league hoped to vote at an owners meeting in Chicago March 4-5, but that may be tabled in favor of continuing debate, sources said. The proposed plan would put Chicago, St. Louis and Denver in the West with the Dodgers, San Diego, San Francisco and Houston. Cincinnati, Atlanta and Florida would join the East with Montreal, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and New York.

The Cardinals also oppose realignment but will go wherever the Cubs go in order to maintain their strongest and longest rivalry. The Cubs’ opposition stems from their cable TV commitment. A move to the West would result in many more games starting at a late hour for viewers (and advertisers) in the East and Midwest, particularly if the NL goes to an unbalanced schedule.

Each of the American League’s 14 teams play 78 games within their division and 84 with the other division. The NL is weighing a schedule that would have each team play 120 games within its division--20 against each team--and 42 out of the division.

Realignment requires a unanimous vote, which the NL does not have because of the Cubs. The Dodgers favor it on the basis of geographical common sense, but owner Peter O’Malley also sees the value in requiring unanimous consent.

“There’s a lot of tradition involved, as well as other factors,” he said. “It would be unfair to drag a team kicking and screaming into another division.”

Said Bill Giles, president of the Philadelphia Phillies:

“Most clubs, including ours, feel we would be better off with realignment from the aspect of travel, having more games in the right time zones. But I wouldn’t call it an earth-shattering or do-or-die issue, no matter what the Cubs decide.”

1992 Dodger Salaries Todd Benzinger: $1.150 million Brett Butler: $3 million John Candelaria: $1.2 million Tom Candiotti: $3.5 million Tim Crews: $1.175 million Kal Daniels: $2.5 million Eric Davis: $3.1 million Jim Gott: $2.125 million Kevin Gross: $2 million Jeff Hamilton: $497,500 Lenny Harris: $840,000 Orel Hershiser: $3 million Jay Howell: $2.575 million Stan Javier: $750,000 Roger McDowell: $2.2 million Bob Ojeda: $1.6 million Juan Samuel: $2.325 million Mike Scioscia: $1.9 million Mike Sharperson: $587,000 Darryl Strawberry: $3.750 million Mitch Webster: $400,000 Steve Wilson: $275,000 Total: $40,449,500 Note: Several players remain unsigned