Key Post Could Be Filled by a Player

As General Manager Paul DePodesta proceeds in filling the vacancy for the Dodgers’ minor league director, he has decided that experience working in a front office is not necessary and is intrigued by the idea of hiring a player and installing him in the position.

“I don’t want a clone of me as the farm director,” DePodesta said. “Someone with a playing background would be very attractive.”

The duties of the job, open since Bill Bavasi left in November to become the Seattle Mariners’ general manager, are being shared by assistant general manager Kim Ng and minor league field coordinator Terry Collins. DePodesta said he had not ruled out filling the position from within the organization.

But he says a player could help blend subjective evaluations with the statistical analysis in which DePodesta specializes. According to scouts from other organizations, he is interested in hiring A.J. Hinch or David McCarty, both of whom were high draft picks out of Stanford before falling into journeyman careers.

McCarty, 34, is a reserve first baseman for the Boston Red Sox. Hinch, 29, is a triple-A catcher in the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization.

DePodesta said he would not ask an active player to retire and in any case has not conducted any interviews for the vacancy, but he also said he might not fill the position during the season. He spoke highly of Hinch and McCarty, each of whom played for the Oakland Athletics when DePodesta was assistant general manager there.

“They’re obviously both very bright,” DePodesta said. “They have backgrounds I don’t have, and they have a passion for the game.”

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Dodger batting coach Tim Wallach said he was touched and honored by the efforts of Montreal fans to persuade the Expos to retire his number this summer. “That’s nice,” Wallach said. “It would be great.”

Wallach, a five-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove winner at third base, holds the Expos’ franchise records in games, hits, doubles, walks and runs batted in. The Expos have retired the numbers of catcher Gary Carter and outfielders Andre Dawson and Rusty Staub.

Wallach played 12 seasons in Montreal, forgoing free agency to sign a long-term contract to stay there, and he is upset by the looming departure of the team.

“It’s really disappointing,” he said. “It’s almost like they’re taking 12 years out of my life.”

The disintegration of a once-proud franchise is a complex tale, but Wallach said Montreal fans should not be blamed for failure to support a team run into the ground by two ownership groups now suing each other and subsequently run as an orphan franchise by major league owners.

“I saw it in Montreal when it was really good,” Wallach said. “Look around -- except maybe here, Chicago and St. Louis, if you don’t win, they don’t come. They’re no different than fans anywhere else.”