Two Spots Could Be Mix, Match Proposition

With one big bat still missing from the Dodger lineup and opening day three weeks away, Manager Jim Tracy reluctantly acknowledged the team could have to staff first base or left field by committee.

“In a perfect world, would I like to have to do something like that? No, not really,” he said. “But, if that’s what gives us the best chance to win, I’ll do it.”

The Dodgers have not abandoned efforts to acquire a hitter. They are believed to be interested in trading a pitcher to the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for Jay Gibbons, who can play first base or right field.

Gibbons, 27, hit .277 with 23 home runs and 100 runs batted in last season. He will make $2.6 million this season.

In the absence of a trade, Shawn Green has said he expected to return to right field, which could leave first base to Robin Ventura and Olmedo Saenz. If the Dodgers insist on moving Green to first, Bubba Trammell, Jolbert Cabrera and either Jason Romano or Wilkin Ruan could share left field. Paul Lo Duca could play either position on days he does not catch.

Juan Encarnacion would start in right field if Green played first and in left field if Green played right.

Tracy said he would have to mix and match “in our current state,” choosing among available players for a premium offensive position based on such factors as hot streaks and track records against a given opposing pitcher.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a bad thing,” he said.

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Ventura was the opening-day third baseman for the New York Yankees last season, a role to be filled this season by Alex Rodriguez.

In New York, Ventura suggests, Rodriguez might be in for culture shock. The fawning reception that greeted him on arrival will turn to derision with his first slump, most-valuable-player credentials notwithstanding.

“It doesn’t matter if it’s Enrique Wilson or Alex,” Ventura said. “If you don’t do well, you’re going to hear about it.”

In Texas, Rodriguez was branded a great player on a bad team. There are no such labels in New York, where captain Derek Jeter says any season without a World Series championship is a failure.

Could Rodriguez be called a failure if he wins his second consecutive MVP award but the Yankees do not win the World Series?

“If he doesn’t do it in the playoffs, it’s still his fault,” Ventura said. “They’ll have to blame somebody.”

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The Dodgers lost Saturday’s exhibition game to Minnesota, 5-4. The Twins scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth on a bases-loaded wild pitch by Steve Colyer. Jeff Weaver pitched the first four innings and gave up one run; Odalis Perez pitched the next four and gave up none.... Jeremy Giambi’s chance to win a bench job appears slim after an MRI examination revealed degenerative changes in two vertebrae in his back. Giambi is expected to sit out five to 10 days while undergoing therapy to stabilize his back. He has six at-bats but has yet to play the field because of a shoulder still sore from surgery in August.