Dodgers Could Be Perfect Fit for Black

Bud Black took one of his daughters to work last weekend, escorting her onto the field before a Freeway Series game at Dodger Stadium. That’s a scene that could be repeated on many a weekend next season, with the Angels’ highly regarded pitching coach expected to be on the short list of managerial candidates if or when the Dodgers fire Jim Tracy.

Tracy’s contract expires after this season, and the Dodgers have shown no interest in negotiating a new deal. The Dodgers would be a perfect fit for Black, so confident in his future that he said no when the Cleveland Indians all but handed him their managerial job two years ago and the Boston Red Sox invited him to interview for their job last year. In each case, Black said he did not want to uproot his two daughters from the family home in northern San Diego County.

Dodger General Manager Paul DePodesta, who inherited Tracy when he was hired on the eve of spring training, worked with Black in the Cleveland front office in 1996-97. With John Hart as general manager and future general managers DePodesta, Dan O’Dowd and Mark Shapiro among the assistants, the Indians won six division championships from 1995 to 2001. Shapiro, who subsequently replaced Hart, was the one who tried to lure Black back to Cleveland.

The Dodgers could get worse before they get better, with their best hitter and best starting pitcher eligible for free agency. With the possibility of losing Adrian Beltre and Odalis Perez, DePodesta and owner Frank McCourt might appreciate the relentlessly positive Black in the Dodgers’ corner.

Black declined to discuss the Dodger situation. So did Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman, but he endorsed Black for any managerial opportunity.

“I’ve never seen him flustered,” Stoneman said. “He’s a clear thinker. He knows the game well. And most of managing in baseball is like managing outside of baseball. You’re managing people. He has the ability to manage people.”

The Toronto Blue Jays asked DePodesta to become their general manager three years ago. He turned them down, opting to remain an assistant with the Oakland Athletics.

When he interviewed in Los Angeles, DePodesta won over McCourt by explaining that the chance to say “yes” to the Dodgers justified the decision to say “no” to the Blue Jays. Black undoubtedly would tell DePodesta and McCourt the chance to say “yes” to the Dodgers would vindicate the decision to say “no” to the Indians and Red Sox.

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New York Yankee owner George Steinbrenner lashed out at his top executives last Sunday, furious that the Seattle Mariners traded pitcher Freddy Garcia to the Chicago White Sox -- and not to the Yankees. As General Manager Brian Cashman explained, first to Steinbrenner and then to the media, the White Sox offered a better package of prospects.

The adjective “furious” would not begin to describe Steinbrenner’s mood if Arizona’s Randy Johnson waives his no-trade clause to accommodate a trade to the Angels. Johnson nearly signed with Anaheim six years ago, before deciding to play for his hometown Diamondbacks.

But the Yankees will get their pitcher, and not just because they can afford to pick up a contract that might scare off other teams. Their minor league system is perceived as weak, but one general manager discovered solid prospects.

“People want to say they don’t have anything, but they do,” the general manager said. “The Yankees were every bit as strong as any team we’ve talked to, but the guys they have aren’t at triple A.”

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The plan: Before the 2002 season, major league owners bought the Montreal Expos for $120 million. They would run them for one year, then sell them for $300 million and split the profit.

The reality: The Expos remain unsold, hemorrhaging money and stuck in Montreal with no good place to go, cries from Washington notwithstanding. Mexico, anyone?