Dodgers Optimistic Despite Deficiencies

By JASON REID

Feb. 14, 2001 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

VERO BEACH, Fla. —

Carlos Perez and Devon White are still with the Dodgers, Chan Ho Park can become a free agent after the season and the club’s payroll has topped $100 million.

But General Manager Kevin Malone is upbeat because his two-year feud with Davey Johnson ended when the former manager was fired after last season.

Enter Jim Tracy.

The club’s bench coach succeeded Johnson, and as pitchers and catchers report to Dodgertown today for the start of spring training, Malone confidently begins his third season, with Tracy at his side.

“What Jim brings to the Dodgers is a new leadership style,” said Malone, who endorsed Tracy over former batting coach Rick Down, the choice of some Dodger players. “He’s focused on fundamentals and he understands defense, execution and the importance of that to winning.

“He has a strong work ethic and intensity, but the biggest thing is that Jim is a team player. He’s committed to making the sacrifice to win. He’s a baseball man. That’s what we need.”

Chairman Bob Daly needed someone who could coexist with Malone.

With the Malone-Johnson feud overshadowing the team, the Dodgers finished 86-76 and 11 games behind first-place San Francisco in the National League West last season.

More was expected after Daly made major moves and increased the payroll to almost $96 million.

The Dodgers are optimistic because Malone and Tracy have been close since their days in the Montreal Expo organization--although that won’t help Tracy during games.

The Dodgers have lineup and defensive concerns, and limited flexibility because they spent $28 million on Perez and White in an overall payroll increase from $60 million to about $110 million on Malone’s watch.

The club was not a factor in the 2000 division or wild-card races and committed 135 errors--matching the majors’ second-highest total--but Tracy likes what he sees.

“In my opinion this is a fabulous group of people,” Tracy said at workouts last month. “I’ve been around these guys for the last two years and I know what they expect. They’re guys who want some structure, and they’ll get structure, but they don’t have to be inundated with it because they’re veteran players and they know what they have to do.

“They’re just waiting for us to plug in a formula that we’re going to follow as a ballclub and as an organization. That’s what we’re going to do as we start spring training. Once we give it to them, I’m sure they’re going to take off with it.”

Pitching is the foundation of Tracy’s plan.

The Dodgers invested $210 million in a rotation that could help them reach the playoffs for the first time since 1996.

Kevin Brown is coming off another typically strong season, having led the league with a 2.58 earned-run average and limited batters to a league-low .213 average.

Many scouts said Park is moving into Brown’s class.

Park was 18-10 with a 3.27 ERA and 217 strikeouts in 226 innings, establishing personal bests. He held right-handed batters to a league-low .199 average, and was second in the league in strikeouts and overall batting average at .214.

The Dodgers gave Park a raise from $4.25 million to $9.9 million--a record contract for a pitcher with only five-plus seasons of major league service.

Darren Dreifort was 12-9 with a 4.16 ERA--8-2 with a 3.14 ERA after the All-Star break--and got a five-year, $55-million contract.

The fourth and fifth starters were 11-26 with a combined 6.28 ERA, so the Dodgers signed free agents Andy Ashby and Ramon Martinez, who pitched for the club from 1988-98, to complete the rotation.

Providing depth, young right-handers Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec are expected to start the season at triple-A Las Vegas.

Then there’s Perez.

The left-hander--7-18 with a 6.28 ERA since signing a three-year, $15.6-million contract--is rehabilitating from arthroscopic surgery on his pitching shoulder and his status is unclear. Even so, he is guaranteed $7.5 million in the final year of his deal.

Perez probably will begin in the bullpen if he returns, joining the league’s best group, statistically, with a 3.76 ERA.

Closer Jeff Shaw gave up only three earned runs and had 15 consecutive saves after recovering from an elbow injury last season.

Setup men Terry Adams and Mike Fetters were outstanding. Their success against left-handed batters minimized the ineffectiveness of the club’s left-handed relievers.

Rookie reliever Matt Herges was the team’s biggest surprise, going 11-3 with a 3.17 ERA.

Daly lured back former pitching coach Dave Wallace, persuading him to leave the league champion New York Mets.

Wallace, a special assistant to Malone, will assist new pitching coach Jim Colborn and instruct minor leaguers.

Batting instructor Jack Clark also begins his first season.

Malone and Tracy want Clark to help some players define their roles in the batting order.

Left fielder Gary Sheffield doesn’t need tutoring.

Sheffield batted .325 with 43 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 105 runs and 101 walks.

He matched Hall of Famer Duke Snider’s franchise record of 43 homers and became the first Dodger to hit .300 with 30 homers, 100 RBIs, 100 runs and 100 walks in each of two seasons.

Right fielder Shawn Green struggled under the weight of his six-year, $84-million contract.

The left-handed batter did not produce as expected, hitting .269 with 24 homers and 99 RBIs. The Dodgers believe Green will perform better after his difficult transition from the American League.

Catcher Todd Hundley signed with the Chicago Cubs, opening a hole in the batting order.

The Dodgers averaged 5.3 runs when Hundley started, 4.6 when other catchers did.

Third baseman Adrian Beltre wants more responsibility, but he may be slowed in Grapefruit League play after undergoing an emergency appendectomy in the Dominican Republic, then getting an infection that caused him to lose 15 pounds.

Tom Goodwin will start in center and atop the batting order, bumping White to the bench. Again.

Goodwin had a .310 on-base percentage and 117 strikeouts, but the Dodgers believe he can do better.

They don’t know what to do with White, who sat out most of last season because of an injured rotator cuff and had hoped to be traded.

The Dodgers tried to accommodate him but disgruntled, 38-year-old outfielders owed $5.9 million are not easy to trade.

Malone said everything will be fine with Tracy in charge.

“Jim is a communicator,” Malone said. “He has what we need to take this team to the next level.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Dodger Glance

* Who’s new: Infielder Tim Bogar, right-handed pitchers Andy Ashby and Ramon Martinez, left-handed pitchers Yorkis Perez, Jesse Orosco and Matt Whisenant.

* Who’s gone: Pitcher Ismael Valdes, catchers Todd Hundley and Jim Leyritz.

* Biggest question of the spring: Is catcher Paul LoDuca an everyday player? LoDuca impressed in brief auditions but has not played regularly. The Dodgers did not sign Hundley, in part, because LoDuca and Chad Kreuter are better defensively. But LoDuca’s defense might suffer if he struggles at the plate. He probably won’t stay in the lineup if that happens.

* Job seekers: Onan Masaoka, Orosco, Whisenant, Perez and Bogar. Masaoka will battle nonroster pitchers Orosco, Whisenant and Perez to be the left-hander in the bullpen. Bogar could be a backup infielder.

* Keep your eye on: Third baseman Adrian Beltre. Beltre, 21, batted .331 after the All-Star break last season. This could be his breakthrough season.

* Reasons to be excited: The pitching staff and left fielder Gary Sheffield. Dodger pitching was second in the majors with a 4.10 earned-run average. Sheffield is one of the game’s top run producers.

* Reasons to be worried: Alex Cora, Tom Goodwin, Shawn Green, Mark Grudzielanek and Eric Karros each batted less than .247 after the All-Star break.

* Projected lineup: 1. Goodwin, center field; 2. Grudzielanek, second base; 3. Sheffield, left field; 4. Green, right field; 5. Karros, first base; 6. Beltre, third base; 7. Kreuter/LoDuca, catcher; 8. Cora, shortstop.

* Projected rotation: Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Darren Dreifort, Ashby, Martinez.

* Projected bullpen: Terry Adams, Mike Fetters, Matt Herges, Masaoka, Gregg Olson.

* Projected closer: Jeff Shaw.

* Projected opening-day payroll: $110 million.

KEY DATES

FULL SQUAD REPORTS

FEB. 27

FIRST EXHIBITION

MARCH 2

vs. Houston

DODGER STADIUM

EXHIBITIONS