MARKET JITTERS

It is not as if the Dodgers are paying Darren Dreifort $252 million, which is what the Texas Rangers are paying Alex Rodriguez. Still, the five-year, $55-million contract they gave Dreifort seemed to cause almost as much industry consternation.

Dreifort had elbow reconstruction five years ago and requires constant physical monitoring at 28. He has a 39-45 record in six major league seasons, and is 33-34 in three years as a starter.

Even now, with Dreifort coming off an impressive 8-2 record over the second half of last season, a potential breakthrough in his evolution from relief pitcher to starter, new pitching coach Jim Colborn expresses caution. Colborn cited the lingering physical concerns and said he simply didn’t know if the $11-million-a-year Dreifort can be a 20-game winner.

“I’d like to see Darren be a high-percentage pitcher who wins 15 or 16 games a year,” Colborn said. “With the kind of consistency we’ve seen this spring, I think he can do that. I just don’t know how often he can pitch long innings, which may be why he’ll have trouble winning 20.

“Prudence requires monitoring [his elbow and physical status]. As long as we have a strong bullpen, if it’s a borderline decision between taking him out and leaving him in, I think we would opt to take him out. I don’t see him completing a lot of games.”

With the average major league salary at $1.9 million, it has become difficult to equate salary to performance, salary to statistics. The market is what it is. For Dreifort, in his first winter as a free agent, it is believed the other serious suitor was the Colorado Rockies, who had already invested almost $180 million in Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle. By getting $55 million for Dreifort, agent Scott Boras, who negotiated the Rodriguez contract and is often accused of inflating the market by telling clubs he has competing offers that he doesn’t, received industry credit for another coup.

“Scott never said he had this offer or that offer,” Dodger chairman Bob Daly said. “He only said this is where the market is. We definitely paid a high price for Darren, but we’re buying into the future. He has unbelievable desire and potential, and we’re trying to build a dominant pitching staff, like Atlanta has had and the Dodgers had in the past. If Scott had come in at $70 million or $80 million, we’d have had to pass.”

Said General Manager Kevin Malone, “Darren’s contract is no different than any other contract, in that you’re always paying on the basis of future contributions and results. Some guys have a more established history, but with Darren, we’re paying more on the basis of tools, stuff and potential. We know there’s a lot of risk. We know we paid a premium price, but that’s the market. We obviously felt he was worth the investment.”

Perhaps, but there is also a sentiment among some close to the organization that once Dreifort’s price started going up, the Dodgers would have been better served by putting that $55 million toward improvements in catching, center field and/or the middle infield.

Malone spent much of the off-season trying to trade second baseman Mark Grudzielanek and center fielder Tom Goodwin, strong evidence of his belief there is need for improvement at those positions. The sentiment is, the Dodgers could have signed Andy Ashby to fill Dreifort’s role, signed Ramon Martinez for the fifth starting spot and allowed Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec to battle for the No. 4 rotation berth. The Dodgers have now closed the door on Gagne and Prokopec, the most promising pitchers in their system, and the chance to lower the payroll.

Of course, the promise in a rotation of Kevin Brown, Chan Ho Park, Dreifort, Ashby and Martinez is indisputable. So is the potential pressure on Dreifort to fulfill the expectations inherent in his contract.

“He’s a competitor, a warrior,” Malone said. “I think there’s a lot of self-imposed pressure anyway. I’m hoping that with the security of the contract, he’ll be more relaxed and able to focus totally on his pitching and job. We’re looking for continuous improvement, hopeful he can take it to the next level.

“All of the signs this spring are encouraging. He seems to be on the same course he was in the second half. If he gives us 220 innings, and wins half of his 32 starts, I think we can say that we have a bargain.”

Dreifort was 12-9 with a 4.16 earned-run average and one complete game in a career-high 32 starts and 192 2/3 innings last year. His ERA in 15 starts during the second half was 3.14.

It should be noted, when citing his sub-.500 career record, that the Dodgers have scored three runs or fewer in 31 of his 87 starts. Asked if he approaches the new season with greater confidence because of his second-half success, the often laconic Dreifort said, “The second half was the second half. It ended five months ago. I always feel confident. I don’t think I’m any more confident.”

Nor will the contract intensify his approach, he insisted, “because I don’t think anybody or anything can put more pressure on me than I put on myself. I’m still in a learning process, as far as becoming a starting pitcher. I learn something new every time I go out . . . about myself, the hitters, making adjustments during the game.”

The goal for Dreifort and the Dodgers is to control his pitch counts. He has too often thrown more than 100 pitches by mid-game, putting a strain on his elbow and taxing the bullpen.

“Darren’s stuff is so nasty that it’s almost impossible for hitters to center the ball,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “If he’s around the plate, forcing hitters to swing earlier in the count, there’s no reason he can’t go deeper into the game. He’s totally capable of being a seven- or eight-inning pitcher.”

Prudence, however, definitely plays into it, as Colborn said, and as Dreifort acknowledges.

“The elbow is behind me,” he said. “It was five years ago. Then again, you look at my career history and I guess you’d say that prudence is a good thing. The club did a good job last year [of handling his workload]. I ended up feeling as strong as I’ve ever been, but no one can control the pitch counts except me. I need to be around the plate, force guys to swing the bat, give the defense a chance.”

Dreifort, 3-0 this spring with a 2.70 ERA, has been wearing an elastic wrap on his elbow to ease what the training staff calls normal tightness. He has not deviated from the strengthening regimen that was prescribed after surgery.

“Darren is one of the smart ones,” therapist Pat Screnar said. “He understands the need to maintain a program for his elbow and shoulder. Some guys have that surgery, regain their previous effectiveness [on the mound], and think they don’t have to continue. Those are the guys who have trouble.”

Dreifort has also made beneficial adjustments in his mechanics.

“When I was with the [Seattle] Mariners [as Pacific Rim scouting director], we talked about trading for Dreifort and I gave a negative opinion, based on what I had seen on TV,” Colborn said. “I didn’t like his mechanics. I thought he was wild, not really in control. I was wrong. I’m seeing a better delivery and consistency than I expected.”

Where it takes Dreifort isn’t certain. No one questions his work ethic, determination and potential. Can he build on his second half? Will he be affected by the contract?

In his first foray into free agency, Dreifort didn’t know what to expect but, “It wasn’t that difficult in the grand scheme of things,” he said. “Everything came together very quickly. I mean, it never really got to a point where I explored other areas. I made a trip to Colorado, and that was great, but I just decided it was best to come back. I was familiar with the situation here, and the Dodgers were familiar with me.”

The thought of pitching in Coors Field might have played into that. Then again, the Dodgers gave Dreifort 55 million reasons to come back. Now he has to show that it made dollars and sense.

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Dreifort By the Numbers

Right-hander Darren Dreifort’s year-by-year statistics, all with the Dodgers:

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Year W-L ERA G GS IP H R ER HR BB SO 1994 0-5 6.21 27 0 29.0 45 21 20 0 15 22 1995 INJURED, DID NOT PLAY 1996 1-4 4.94 19 0 23.2 23 13 13 2 12 24 1997 5-2 2.86 48 0 63.0 45 21 20 3 34 63 1998 8-12 4.00 32 26 180.0 171 84 80 12 57 168 1999 13-13 4.79 30 29 178.2 177 105 95 20 76 140 2000 12-9 4.16 32 32 192.2 175 105 89 31 87 164 Totals 39-45 4.28 188 87 667.0 636 349 317 68 281 581

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