BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Regan Happy Now but Questions Firing

Phil Regan walked into the Dodger clubhouse Saturday morning, poked his head into the coaches’ office, and pitcher Scott Radinsky yanked his head around and stared in disbelief.

“What’s the Orioles’ manager doing here?” he asked.

Well, Regan will be managing the triple-A Albuquerque team this season instead of the Baltimore Orioles, but if the speculation is correct, he one day will become Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda’s successor.

“I don’t know what will happen,” Regan said. “I’m asked that a lot. But if I’m in the position and being in the organization, I just hope I’m considered.”

Regan, who managed the Orioles to a 71-73 record in his first year as manager, still cannot believe he got fired after one strike-shortened season.

“I still haven’t quite figured out what happened,” Regan said. “We won 71 games and the Rockies won 77 games. [Don Baylor] was manager of the year and I got fired. [Pittsburgh Manager Jim] Leyland was 27 games out of first place and he got a five-year contract. It was difficult because it takes time to put in a philosophy. Everything I did, they said, ‘That’s not the Oriole way. This is the way you do things.’

“Well, that way hasn’t worked in 12 years, so maybe it wasn’t the right way.”

There were rumblings that Regan’s downfall was trigged by shortstop Cal Ripken’s reluctance to embrace Regan’s new style, but Regan rejected the notion.

“I don’t feel like there was a lot of resistance from Cal,” Regan said. “We had a lot of talks, but I don’t think he was talking behind my back. From my perspective, he was a pretty positive person. . . .

“I really thought we did pretty well with what we had. There was talk that we were an underachieving team, but they made 10 or 12 changes over the winter, so obviously they thought there was a need for more talent.”

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The Dodgers are experimenting with moving second baseman Delino DeShields to the leadoff spot, taking advantage of his speed, and batting Brett Butler second. DeShields was scheduled to bat leadoff Saturday against the New York Mets, but the game was rained out.

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The Dodgers renewed the contract of center fielder Roger Cedeno for $124,000 and now have all 40 players on the roster under contract. . . . The rotation is structured so that Ramon Martinez will be the opening-day starter on April 1 against the Houston Astros.