Holiday Shopping

After committing $84 million to Shawn Green in their most recent eyebrow-raising signing, the Dodgers are focusing on the final phase of their off-season plan: cutting payroll while adding players during the winter meetings, which begin today in Anaheim.

Even the big-spending Dodgers have a budget, and team officials hope to jettison some of the ballclub’s many other high-salaried players with the all-star right fielder aboard.

The Dodgers paid more than $83 million in player salaries last season, and the 14 players currently under contract are owed almost $74 million next season. Including arbitration-eligible players and other potential signings, the Dodgers’ 2000 player expenses will approach $100 million unless General Manager Kevin Malone completes payroll-motivated trades during the meetings, which end Tuesday.

Pitcher Ismael Valdes and second baseman Eric Young are the players decision makers are most eager to trade. Valdes is expected to receive a significant raise in arbitration, and Young is under contract for two more seasons.

There was little interest in Dodger players before the trading deadlines last season, and it appears the industry view hasn’t changed much.

Pitchers Chan Ho Park and Darren Dreifort are the only Dodgers without no-trade clauses considered untouchable. First baseman Eric Karros and left fielder Gary Sheffield also remain in the Dodgers’ plans.

The Dodgers seek top prospects in trades--especially hard-throwing pitchers. Malone will also try to improve the bullpen and bench through free-agent signings, trying to acquire everyone on Manager Davey Johnson’s wish list.

But there’s a hitch.

The Dodgers put some of their plans on hold until this point, hoping Commissioner Bud Selig would rule on the Adrian Beltre situation before the meetings. The Dodgers allegedly signed the young third baseman before he had reached baseball’s legal minimum of 16, and Beltre’s agent, Scott Boras, has requested that his client be declared a free agent.

Selig’s decision is not expected until late next week, meaning the Dodgers are still flying blind regarding third base. The Dodgers’ needs will change if Beltre does not return.

Free-agent third baseman Todd Zeile remains an option--for now. Zeile wants to return to the Dodgers, but he’s expected to sign elsewhere during the meetings.

Malone will move forward at the meetings despite the Beltre situation and hope for the best. Typically with the Dodgers, things are never easy.

“Our No. 1 objective, as far as personnel was concerned, was to get a quality left-handed corner bat, and we accomplished that,” Malone said, referring to acquiring Green in a four-player trade with the Toronto Blue Jays on Nov. 8.

“Our No. 2 goal was to improve the bench, and we’re working on that. We’re also going to try to add at least another arm to the bullpen, but the problem is that it’s a lot harder to do a deal now because of the economics.”

Especially for a franchise trying to trim payroll because of its recent stunning financial commitments.

The $14-million average annual value of Green’s six-year contract is second only to the $15-million average of Dodger pitcher Kevin Brown’s seven-year, $105-million package. With the two highest-paid players in baseball history on the roster, the Dodgers are searching for payroll flexibility.

Valdes earned $4.275 million last season, and might earn as much as $6 million in arbitration. Valdes, the team’s second-best starter in ‘99, is eligible for free agency after next season.

Many teams have expressed interest in Valdes, whom the Dodgers could have already traded if they hadn’t tried to attach other players to potential deals involving him, sources said. The Dodgers want teams to take Young and the remaining $9 million he is owed, or infielder Jose Vizcaino, who will make $3.5 million in the final year of his contract.

The Dodgers are also receptive to trading catcher Todd Hundley, pitcher Carlos Perez and center fielder Devon White.

There doesn’t appear to be a market for White, who is guaranteed another $9.9 million, or Hundley, still guaranteed $6.5 million. Acknowledging there is no interest in Perez, the Dodgers are not actively trying to dump the left-hander, who will make $5 million in 2000 and $7.5 million in 2001.

“Even if we accomplish everything we want to accomplish, our payroll is definitely going to be over what we had for last year because a lot of our players are under contract,” Chairman Robert Daly said. “The only question really is, ‘How much are we up?’ ”