Dodgers Facing Many Hurdles in Bid to Sign Park

Focusing on their rotation, the Dodgers committed $77.5 million to free-agent pitchers Darren Dreifort and Andy Ashby.

Now, it’s Chan Ho Park’s turn.

The Dodgers will begin contract negotiations with Park’s agent, Scott Boras, in the first week of January, hoping to persuade the arbitration-eligible right-hander to agree to a multiyear deal. Park is expected to more than double his $4.25-million salary.

If a multiyear contract cannot be negotiated, the Dodgers would prefer to settle on a one-year deal, avoiding arbitration, but they acknowledge neither will be easy.

“Well, it could be difficult,” General Manager Kevin Malone said. “We acknowledge that Chan Ho had a wonderful [2000] season and all signs point to him continuing his success.

“We love Chan Ho and we hope that he is a Dodger for life. But we’ll just have to go through the process and see what happens.”

Park, 27, is coming off a career year, compares favorably to pitchers who have average annual salaries of more than $10 million and is considered the top starter in the 2001 free-agent class.

Beginning Jan. 5, teams and players have a 10-day window to file arbitration salary figures.

Hearings begin Feb. 1 and rulings are issued before the season begins. Arbiters are empowered to award only the salary submitted by the clubs or players--there is no middle ground.

Two baseball executives who have handled arbitration cases said the Dodgers would probably file between $7 million and $8 million. Boras might submit a figure of more than $11 million.

Sources said the commissioner’s office has encouraged the Dodgers to complete the arbitration process with Park because rewarding him with a multiyear deal now would further adversely affect the five-year salary structure.

But that strategy could be risky for the Dodgers because they want to keep Boras and Park happy--in that order.

“One thing we know is that Chan Ho Park is [potentially] the only No. 1 pitcher under 30, the only one, and he’s a guy who will be in great demand in the pitching-short free-agent market,” said Boras, who recently negotiated shortstop Alex Rodriguez’s record 10-year, $252-million contract with the Texas Rangers.

“The Dodgers are the employer and I always listen to what direction the employer wants to go. I’m not going to get into [contract proposals], but I will say that Chan Ho Park is a unique player.”

Park had a base salary of $3.85 million (he made $400,000 in performance bonuses) last season while going 18-10 with a 3.27 earned-run average and 217 strikeouts in 226 innings, establishing personal bests. He limited right-handed batters to a National League-low .199 average, and was second in the league in strikeouts and overall batting average at .214.

The Dodgers gave Dreifort, who had a $3.7-million salary last season, a five-year, $55-million contract after he went 12-9 with a 4.16 ERA, setting the stage for Park to receive a big raise too.

Park, as a player with five-plus seasons in the majors, can compare himself in the arbitration process to this year’s free agents.

That’s a problem for the Dodgers because of Dreifort’s package.

Dreifort is 39-45 with a 4.28 ERA in six seasons. In three seasons as a starter, the right-hander is 33-34 with a 4.31 ERA, and has not won more than 13 games in a season, pitched at least 195 innings or had an ERA under 4.00.

Park is 65-43 with a 3.88 ERA in five seasons. In four full seasons in the rotation, Park is 60-38 with a 3.87 ERA, and has won at least 13 games in each season, twice worked more than 220 innings and three times had an ERA under 4.00.

Dreifort’s salary increases to $9 million next season.

And Park?

“We saw what occurred in the market [during the winter meetings in Dallas],” Boras said. “And we’ve seen how young power pitchers have been rewarded.”

In addition to Dreifort, Boras is expected to compare Park to left-hander Mike Hampton, who signed an eight-year, $121-million contract with the Colorado Rockies.

Hampton was 67-39 with a 3.39 ERA in his first five full seasons as a starter, and there is other evidence in favor of Park joining the $10-million club.

Park is one of only nine pitchers to have had at least 13 victories the last four seasons. The others are Kevin Brown, Tom Glavine, Randy Johnson, Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez, Andy Pettitte, Aaron Sele and David Wells.

Park also is in elite company among pitchers who have worked at least 190 innings the last four seasons. That group includes, among others, Brown, Glavine, Hampton, Johnson, Maddux and Martinez.

Boras hopes to reach a multiyear agreement with the Dodgers, but also concedes there are hurdles.

“Well, the [New York] Mets had a difficult time trying to [sign] Hampton, the [San Diego] Padres had a difficult time with Kevin Brown and the Baltimore Orioles had a difficult time with Mike Mussina,” said Boras, believed to be seeking a four-year contract for Park. “What’s common in all of those situations is that we have a pitching-short market and the demand is great.

“We’re talking about major commitments, and reaching agreements under those circumstances is difficult. But we did it with Kevin Brown and we did it with Darren Dreifort. We certainly want to cross that bridge again with the Dodgers for Chan Ho.”

The Dodgers seem resigned to the situation.

“We’ll just sign him for a year or go to arbitration,” Malone said. “We’ve got him for another year, and we’ll just see what happens after that.”