Dodgers Are Left Playing the Field

So the Dodgers have begun their managerial search, which is not to be confused with having kicked into high gear.

Eddie Murray?

Well, maybe the Dodgers are so fed up with having been blasted so often by the media that they are willing to hire a man who did not speak to the media for most of his career.

Rick Down, Jim Tracy, Glenn Hoffman?

All respected members of the Dodger coaching staff, but do you go this low key with the inevitable expectations of a $98-million payroll that is likely to climb even higher?

Willie Randolph and Chris Chambliss?

Respected members of the New York Yankee coaching staff, but they have been used so often to satisfy Commissioner Bud Selig’s dictum requiring the interviewing of minority candidates that it is difficult to accept their candidacy, along with Murray’s, as legitimate.

No, a high-profile search at this point it isn’t, and there are reasons for that.

Among the most significant is that Dodger credibility has taken such a beating that Chairman Bob Daly and associates aren’t eager to be used as leverage by a candidate seeking to enhance his bargaining power with another club, any more than they are eager to be rejected by a candidate with a bigger name.

As chronicled previously, the Dodgers are also a tough sell right now. A prospective candidate has to:

* Be willing to work with beleaguered General Manager Kevin Malone, whose reputation has absorbed a major hit in two years with the Dodgers.

* Accept the reality of a barren farm system, expensive contracts that are difficult to trade and the uncertain direction of a former movie studio executive now training on the job.

* Handle the presence of Tom Lasorda, who may not carry significant influence regarding club decisions as a longtime friend of the chairman’s but remains a lingering shadow that could dissuade some candidates.

It has also been pointed out that there are five other clubs in the managerial market, a total that may rise when postseason play is over, and that the managerial pool has been drained by expansion and failure to almost the same extent as the pitching pool.

It’s not exactly a pretty picture, but with all of that, there are now--and soon may be more--high-profile possibilities if the Dodgers elected to put their credibility on the line.

In fact, three managers who took their clubs to the playoffs--the San Francisco Giants’ Dusty Baker, the Seattle Mariners’ Lou Piniella and the New York Mets’ Bobby Valentine--could be available.

Their situations?

Baker: It remains doubtful that the Giants would allow Baker to leave the Bay Area or that he would choose to, but his recent comments indicate that he is frustrated, both by the failure of managing general partner Peter Magowan to step up with a contract, and the second-guessing he has taken since losing the division series to the Mets.

Baker was offered two years at $2.4 million in the spring, but it will take four years at more than $2 million per now, and the Giants may be intrigued by the availability of Jim Fregosi, an aide to General Manager Brian Sabean before Fregosi accepted the Toronto managing job.

Baker has long harbored resentment at the Dodgers over the invalid drug rumors floated by the former ownership when he left as a player. He would have to swallow that resentment and be given some control over personnel decisions before stepping into the Malone-Lasorda maze.

Piniella: The now Sweeter Lou wants one more major contract and would prefer moving to a team that plays or trains closer to his Tampa home. Cincinnati and Toronto are possibilities if he leaves Seattle, and he is also being mentioned as a Met possibility if Valentine does not return.

The Dodgers do not represent a true geographical match, but Piniella is at the top of his profession and proved with the Mariners this year that he can operate a National League-style offense that should prove attractive to Daly and Malone, both critical of Davey Johnson for sitting back and waiting for the three-run homer.

Valentine: Met co-owner Fred Wilpon has indicated that Valentine will be back, but he might have waited too long to make it official. Valentine has led the Mets to 191 wins the last two years and his price continues to go up, particularly now that there could be market competition.

Valentine and General Manager Steve Phillips do not have the best relationship, but that alone would probably not prompt Valentine to leave if the Mets’ contract offer is right. Valentine has a restaurant in Connecticut and his wife’s family--she is the daughter of former pitcher Ralph Branca--lives in the area.

Valentine also has roots, of course, as a player in the Dodger organization and an ally in Lasorda, but his ego may be too much for Malone and Daly. His hiring, in fact, would be clear indication that Lasorda’s influence has resurfaced, and there is no reason to believe that.

There is no evidence the Dodgers will go high profile, despite the high payroll and the apparent need for a proven and respected manager to cope with the expectations and tangled environment.

It is a situation that seems to call for a Baker or Piniella, a pursuit that would enhance rather than jeopardize credibility, but the betting line at this point is that the Dodgers will settle for less, possibly promoting Down or Tracy.

What that would accomplish is uncertain, but does anyone consider the Dodgers accomplished?