No Easy Fix on Horizon for Dodgers

The new Dodger general manager is certain to face a daunting task. If the standings aren’t measure enough, the statistics should be.

The club he inherits has fallen to 14th in the National League in team batting, sixth in team earned-run average and 14th in team fielding.

The fatal figure, however, is a major league-low on-base percentage of .309.

The Dodgers are last in the NL in walks, 13th in hits and, from top to bottom, not putting enough runners on base to sustain an attack, given the drop-off in pitching.

Aside from the intangible issue of chemistry--ah, yes, that again--the remedy is not easy.

For starters, the Dodgers need a No. 1 pitcher and a power- hitting left fielder, but already have $58 million committed to 12 players, not including arbitration-eligible Ismael Valdes, Charles Johnson, Carlos Perez, Mark Grudzielanek and Darren Dreifort, nor the renegotiation that will be required to keep Jeff Shaw, who may not stay no matter what is offered.

The new GM probably will find a negligible market when he tries to free funds and ease the logjam at third base and shortstop by trading Bobby Bonilla and Jose Vizcaino. He will find that Tom Lasorda stripped the farm system by trading Paul Konerko, Dennis Reyes, Wilton Guerrero, Peter Bergeron and others.

He can’t bring back Mike Piazza unless he trades Johnson, who will demand top dollar in arbitration but whose market value has slipped, along with his play.

He can clean house--and he seems certain to--in the front office and scouting system, but can he afford the time it will take a new organization to gear up? Can he tell fans to be patient? Can he be confident he will have the authority to make the necessary decisions without the approval of Lasorda, Fox and President Bob Graziano?

Lasorda insists that the new man will have full authority in player personnel, but it is the one issue likely to be discussed longest and loudest by potential candidates. The front-runner? Early indications are that Fox favors Dave Dombrowski, the Florida Marlins’ general manager, whereas Lasorda leans toward Jim Bowden, the Cincinnati Reds’ GM.

Dean Taylor, the Atlanta Braves’ assistant GM, could be Graziano’s compromise choice, if it comes to a compromise. Marlin vice president Gary Hughes, Baltimore Oriole assistant GM Kevin Malone, New York Met assistant Omar Minaya and former New York Yankee general manager Bob Watson are expected to be interviewed. Dan O’Dowd, the Cleveland Indians’ assistant GM, is also believed to be on the Dodger list.

If Graziano and his bosses are looking for a ready-made turnover, Dombrowski is their man, since it is expected he would be accompanied by the Florida staff that followed him from Montreal, including scouting and development whiz Hughes, assistant GM Frank Wren and scouting director Owen Freeman. He might also be accompanied by one other fellow, the manager named Jim Leyland.

*

It hasn’t been easy amid the yearly payroll purges, but Expo Manager Felipe Alou registered his 521st victory with the team Wednesday, passing Buck Rodgers’ record for a Montreal manager. P.J. Loyello, the Expos’ public relations director, presented Alou a bottle of champagne, which surprised Alou, given the team’s budget.

“I was expecting beer,” he said. “I haven’t seen champagne since the 1962 playoffs [when he was a player with the San Francisco Giants].”