Green Doesn’t Regret It

Shawn Green is back on the job.

The star right fieldersat out Wednesday’s 6-4 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium in observance of Yom Kippur, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Green returned to the lineup Friday night against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Bank One Ballpark in the opening game of the club’s closing nine-game, 10-day trip against National League West opponents.

Although content with his decision to sit out a game during the playoff races, Green was eager to return to work.

“I made the right decision, but I’m really glad to be back,” said Green, who plans to donate one game’s pay, about $70,000, to a charity in New York assisting families affected by the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. “It’s too bad we didn’t win the game, because I was really hoping for that.

“It’s hard to miss a game, and I would have felt a lot better if we could have won it. You start to think, maybe, things would have been different [if he had played].

“Not that things would have been different.”

Green expressed disappointment that some questioned his motivation for observing the holiday.

“Some people told me there were articles on web sites saying it was just a [public-relations] ploy,” he said. “The last thing I would want to do is cause a stir. I was just trying to make the right decision.

“I wasn’t expecting it to get out of hand like it did, with a big debate about it. I was just really surprised. At this point, I’m just happy that it’s over. I hope I don’t have to make the same decision again.”

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The commissioner’s office might permit the Dodgers to promote Dan Evans to general manager without conducting a search, management sources said.

The Dodgers could circumvent that process if Evans, long expected to become the club’s top baseball official, is considered an internal candidate, because teams are not required to interview outsiders if they plan to promote from within.

But is Evans an internal candidate?

The interim assistant general manager joined the organization in June and his contract expires Monday, technically making him an outsider.

Chairman Bob Daly has developed a good relationship with Commissioner Bud Selig, sources said, leading some to believe that the Dodgers would be permitted to simply give the job to Evans.

And the Dodgers have already conducted two searches for managers and one for a general manager since June of 1998, which Selig might also consider in letting the club off the hook this time.

Evans, considered one of the game’s best administrators, is expected to stick it out at Chavez Ravine even if the commissioner’s office mandates that a search must occur.

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Phil Hiatt, a journeyman infielder, and 22-year-old right-hander Ricardo Rodriguez were selected the organization’s minor league player and pitcher of the year.

In 113 games for triple-A Las Vegas, Hiatt batted .330 with 44 home runs, 29 doubles, five triples and 99 runs batted in. Hiatt, 32, also was selected the most valuable player of the Pacific Coast League.

Rodriguez went 14-6 with a 3.21 earned-run average for Class-A Vero Beach and was selected the most valuable pitcher of the Florida State League.