Malone Figures to Survive

It appears that Kevin Malone has done it again.

The Dodger general manager is expected to survive another organizational purge despite his two-year record of roster malfunctions and poor judgment, sources said before a 10-2 victory Saturday night over the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium.

Chairman Bob Daly and President Bob Graziano have stopped commenting about Malone and Manager Davey Johnson, but many within the organization believe Malone will retain his position.

Sources outside the franchise agree with that assessment. The perception in baseball is that Malone has somehow managed to sidestep his share of responsibility for the club’s problems.

Malone also escaped unscathed after designing last season’s 77-85 club and making strong comments about the Dodgers’ supposed return to prominence under the new regime. Fox fired Graziano, whom Daly rehired.

Apparently feeling secure, Malone again ignored Dodger policy this week in discussing his status.

Against the mandate of team officials, Malone told reporters that he is confident he will weather the storm expected to end Johnson’s tenure, citing his four-year contract, which has two years remaining, and the progress the team made this season among the reasons for his optimism.

Johnson is under contract for another season and also had something to do with the Dodgers’ nine-victory improvement to this point, but the same standards seemingly don’t apply to the manager.

Daly plans to meet with Johnson on Friday after Johnson returns from a fishing trip in Cabo San Lucas. Daly is expected to fire baseball’s winningest-active manager late this week or early next week.

“Davey has proven that if you give him the horses, if he has the horses in place, he’s going to win,” said Cincinnati General Manager Jim Bowden, who acquired players to help Johnson lead the Reds to consecutive Central titles in 1994-95.

“He’s absolutely the same manager he was with us, the same manager he was with the [New York] Mets and the same manager he was with the [Baltimore] Orioles. He’s the same manager who won all those division titles and the World Series in New York [in 1986]. He’s the same manager who has one of the best track records and winning percentages in the game.”

Regardless of Malone’s bold comments, sources said things could change after Daly and Graziano meet frequently this week to analyze the season.

Daly appeared to distance himself from Malone in September after repeatedly praising Malone, and criticizing Johnson, while the club struggled earlier in the season.

Against Daly’s instructions, Malone frequently discussed the Dodger managerial situation with respected Fox baseball analyst Kevin Kennedy, sources said.

In criticizing Johnson to Kennedy, Malone, who denies having inappropriate conversations with Kennedy, led Kennedy to believe he would support him to succeed Johnson next season.

However, Malone knew that Kennedy would not have been considered to replace Johnson, leading some to believe Malone simply wanted Kennedy to continue supporting him on TV after someone else had been hired.

Are the Dodgers concerned about Malone disregarding team policy?

“We made the decision not to discuss the status of our management personnel,” said Derrick Hall, senior vice president. “That’s why I will not discuss it now.”

Johnson has remained professional throughout the process, declining comment about Malone’s behind-the-scenes efforts.

“That’s a pointless exercise,” Johnson said. “It might make for a good [newspaper] story, but that doesn’t help anyone here. I’m just not going to go there. You know what I mean?”

Johnson also has made mistakes, and there won’t be tears in the clubhouse if Daly makes a change. But Johnson has more supporters than Malone because of Malone’s finger pointing, sources said.

But Daly’s support matters most.

“Again, as we stated a week ago, we will not discuss management and personnel issues until after the season,” Hall said. “That’s when we will analyze the situation.”

Malone keeps jumping the gun.