Will the Skipper Be Cast Away?

The Dodgers called a news conference Monday afternoon, and hopes soared that, finally, their most troubling bit of winter procrastination had ended.

The Dodgers set up chairs in the stadium club and brought in three Hall of Famers, rolled out the blue carpet and everyone cheered for

Charley Steiner?

Rich voice, good storyteller, a nice selection as a new Dodger broadcaster.

But as announcements go, he’s no Jim Tracy.

Where was Jim Tracy?

When are the Dodgers going to rehire Jim Tracy?

They are the only major league team without a manager under contract.

Tracy is one of the first managers in history to have won his first division title and be out of work before his celebratory tears have dried.

The one guy who held last year’s nutty team together is the one guy who has since been ignored.

Talk trades and negotiations with free agents? Check.

Revamp the broadcast team? Done.

Remodel the stadium? Already happening.

Bring back Jim Tracy? Who?

His contract expired on Halloween. The date apparently held as much weight as a fun-sized Snickers.

Twenty-three days have passed, and the organization is looking cheaper by the two dozen.

Although nobody involved will talk openly about it, the problem is clear.

The Dodgers don’t want to pay Tracy as similar managers are paid.

The “Moneyball” world of General Manager Paul DePodesta doesn’t much value managers, considering them simply uniformed extensions of a front office that calls the shots.

Baseball bellhops, if you will.

Phil Garner, with a winning percentage of .477 and no finish higher than second place, recently signed a two-year extension with the Houston Astros for about $1 million a season.

Tracy, with a winning percentage of .549 and one division title in four years, made about $575,000 last year and is not being offered close to Garner money.

Even so, Tracy has said he wants to return to the Dodgers and finish the job he began.

Even if the Dodgers don’t value a manager’s input, surely they understand his need for credibility.

If Tracy is going to be re-signed, they need to re-sign him soon.

Like, yesterday.

“I think it will all get worked out in short order,” co-owner Frank McCourt said. “I give our manager a great deal of credit for what happened last year.

“He managed to hold our clubhouse together, not once, but twice.”

After enduring three years of spotty criticism, Tracy won over most Dodger folks last summer by doing exactly what McCourt cited, pitching a managerial doubleheader, winning both games in a shutout.

He managed one Dodger team to first place through July 31.

Then, in a clubhouse gutted by DePodesta’s deadline trades, he managed a new team to first place through season’s end.

After three years of being criticized for things he did, Tracy succeeded because of what he didn’t do.

He didn’t whine. He didn’t change his demeanor or focus. Instead of joining the circus, he calmly steered it.

Adrian Beltre argued loudly with Tracy on opening day -- opening day! -- that he deserved a higher spot in the batting order. Tracy shrugged and told Beltre to prove it, which he

did.

Everyone told Tracy his team was finished after the trade of Paul Lo Duca and Guillermo Mota, yet he refused to accept any moaning, even using Eric Gagne for three innings on the day after the deal. The Dodgers won in 12 innings in San Diego, possibly the most important victory of the season.

Many wanted Milton Bradley shipped away after his incident with fans, but the players didn’t, and Tracy knew it.

He refused to pile on Bradley, and the team responded by clinching the division title during Bradley’s end-of-season suspension.

Did he overwork Gagne? Yes, but he admitted he had no choice.

Was he too strict on his lefty-righty platoons? Perhaps, but Alex Cora and Jose Hernandez combined effectively at second base.

“There’s nothing like a manager who can bring a clubhouse chemistry back together, and Jim did that this year, time and again,” McCourt said.

There’s nothing like maintaining the continuity of that winning culture.

And there’s no time like the present.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.