Johnson at Top of List as Dodgers Bear Down

Seeking to complete what has been a tumultuous process, the Dodgers focused their efforts Thursday on hiring Davey Johnson to manage the ballclub.

Johnson emerged as the leading candidate after numerous discussions the last few days between President Bob Graziano and General Manager Kevin Malone, who is in New York for the World Series. Malone is scheduled to interview Johnson this weekend.

Johnson was a finalist for the Detroit Tigers’ position, but the Tigers picked interim manager Larry Parrish to be their field leader in 1999, leaving Johnson to pursue the position he preferred.

Although Johnson acknowledges he wants the Dodger job, the Dodgers have a backup plan, sources within the organization said. If an agreement cannot be reached, the club will turn to another former manager, ESPN analyst Kevin Kennedy.

Kennedy is also scheduled to meet with Malone in New York this weekend. Johnson or Kennedy will have to meet with Graziano as well before a deal can be completed, but Graziano has authorized Malone to do most of the interviewing.

After being thwarted in their attempt to hire Montreal Expo Manager Felipe Alou, the Dodgers considered slowing their search while identifying other potential candidates, among them possibly managers under contract. But that strategy was scrapped because of wild speculation and erroneous news reports.

At least Malone received some rare good news Thursday.

The Dodgers resolved a misunderstanding with the Minnesota Twins that had prompted the Twins to launch a brief investigation into tampering allegations. The Twins will not file charges against the Dodgers stemming from an unauthorized phone conversation between Malone and Twin Manager Tom Kelly.

Contacted while traveling to New York, Malone would not confirm that Johnson is the front-runner. But he acknowledged that Johnson or Kennedy probably will be offered the position.

“They are the two candidates we’re looking closely at right now, but I wouldn’t say that one is ahead of the other,” Malone said. “They both have outstanding qualities, things that anyone would want in a manager.”

But sources said Malone has had numerous conversations with someone close to Johnson in recent weeks, assuring Johnson’s representative that the Dodgers would move Johnson to the top of their list if the Alou deal collapsed. Reached at home in Winter Park, Fla., Johnson spoke cautiously.

“That’s great if it happens, but I don’t know about any of this,” said Johnson, who managed the Baltimore Orioles for two seasons while Malone was their assistant general manager.

“I’m not up there [in Los Angeles] making the decisions about this, so I don’t really know what’s going on, other than what you [reporters] tell me. There have been a lot of things out there [speculation], but nothing is really clear yet, at least not the way I look at it.

“I’ve managed three teams [New York Mets, Cincinnati Reds and Orioles] and I think I had some success. Managing the Dodgers is something I definitely would be interested in, but I just have to wait and see what happens. That’s really all I can do.”

Johnson guided the Mets to the 1986 World Series championship. His teams won five division titles and finished second five times.

Because of clashes with owner Peter Angelos, Johnson walked away from Baltimore after winning the 1997 American League East title and being selected AL manager of the year. Johnson said that the opportunity to work with Malone again is among the reasons he wants the Dodger job.