Lasorda Pact Is Extended by Dodgers : Baseball: Manager, 67, is told by Claire that the team’s emphasis next season will be on young players. 4 lines. 4 lines. 4 lines.

Tom Lasorda says he still has the desire and ability to do the job, and Dodger owner Peter O’Malley honored that on Friday when he asked Lasorda to return next season as manager. It will be Lasorda’s 19th year as the Dodger manager and 46th with the organization.

“If they didn’t want me back, I would have walked out of Peter’s office and thanked him for for all the wonderful things he and the Dodgers have done for me,” said Lasorda, whose contract was renewed for one season.

“Yes, I felt I wanted to manage again. I felt I could still do the job. If I didn’t think that I could do for them exactly what they wanted me to do, I wouldn’t have accepted it. If I thought I was hurting this club as the field leader, I would not be here. But I know one thing, I know I can still do the job for them.”

The Dodgers had a 58-56 record when the owners ended the season but had been in first place for 87 days in the National League’s West Division. They appeared headed for their first playoff berth since 1988, when Lasorda’s team won the World Series.

“A lot of people didn’t give us any chance at all and said the (San Francisco) Giants were a shoo-in,” Lasorda said.

“But I believe this as much as I am breathing, that we could walk out with any team in the major leagues and beat them. There wasn’t any doubt in my mind we would be No. 1.”

Lasorda usually has managed on one-year contracts, and speculation began, as it has in recent years, that the 1994 season might be his last. The Dodgers had struggled through the 1992 season and achieved only average records the next two seasons.

But O’Malley said before this season began that he did not blame Lasorda for the decline, instead pointing to player injuries and an interruption of talent in the minor leagues.

Now, the Dodgers say their flow of talent has resumed. And that, in part, was the subject of a meeting Lasorda had Friday morning with Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president.

“The primary thrust (of our conversation) is the direction we are taking as far as the young players,” Claire said.

“And I am confident that Tommy can do a job and continue to do the job and is enthusiastic in leading the team with the knowledge that we will have a heavy emphasis on youth.

“He has had the opportunity (during the strike) to see the young players and I feel confident that we have the players who can come up here and do the job for us, just as they have in recent years.”

Claire said that he and Lasorda are still discussing the coaching staff. Decisions are expected next week.

Lasorda, who turned 67 on Thursday, has a record of 1,480-1,338, tying him for 15th in victories with Earl Weaver. He has two World Series championships, four National League pennants and six Western Division titles.

Lasorda’s salary is believed to be between $800,000 and $1 million, but he said that money was not discussed in his meeting with O’Malley.

“When I got this job, I told them I would pay them to do it,” Lasorda said.