DePodesta’s Work Is Just Beginning

Now Paul DePodesta’s work really begins. The Dodger general manager faces many major decisions in his first off-season in charge at Chavez Ravine.

Retaining third baseman Adrian Beltre tops DePodesta’s to-do list, and resolving Manager Jim Tracy’s contract situation also is a priority.

Pitcher Jose Lima is among the players who can become free agents after the World Series, and although Eric Gagne can’t bolt until after the 2006 season, the Dodgers might risk eventually losing the All-Star closer unless they offer him a multiyear deal before spring training.

So much for DePodesta easing into the winter.

“I actually lobbed in a call to [agent] Scott [Boras] last week about Adrian, and we’ll get on it very quickly,” DePodesta said. “I want to be as proactive as possible, not just with Adrian but with a lot of our free agents.

“At the same time, we need to be able to react to what those guys want and what they’re looking for. We’re prepared for the give and take that’s going to take place.”

And Gagne?

“We could potentially do something there,” DePodesta said. “I’d certainly be open for it. I think I understand Eric’s importance to the club and I’d like to keep him here.”

As for Tracy’s situation, he and DePodesta agreed to wait until after playoffs to begin talks. Does DePodesta expect an agreement to be reached quickly? “Maybe you want to talk to Tracy about that,” he said. “I don’t know. I’d like to think that, in the end, it wouldn’t be complicated.”

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A day after the “greatest game of my life,” Lima moved to mend fences with Jeff Weaver, who supposedly was upset about comments Lima made regarding the pitching staff’s performance with two out in the first two games of the division series.

“I don’t want him to be mad at me,” said Lima, who tossed a five-hit shutout Saturday in a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Dodger Stadium.

“I’m sorry if he feels like I disrespected him and I showed him up. He knows me enough already that he knows it wasn’t my intention to hurt his feelings or show him up in front of the media. He knows me better.”

The Cardinals batted .467 with two out in the first two games. Odalis Perez and Weaver were hit hard in their starts.

In responding to reporters’ questions about the Cardinals’ two-out production before Game 3, Lima intimated that some pitchers didn’t adhere to coach Jim Colborn’s plan. Moreover, the right-hander said that No. 8 batter Mike Matheny, who had a homer and five runs batted in during the games at Busch Stadium, was given too many opportunities, considering the pitcher bats behind Matheny.

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Dodger owner Frank McCourt said he has met with “three or four” potential minority investors but isn’t sure whether he will sell a limited stake in the franchise.

In January, after major league owners approved his $430-million purchase of the Dodgers from Fox, McCourt pledged to find limited partners to buy out the share of the franchise retained by Fox in the purchase agreement, valued at about $40 million.

At the time, the Boston native said he was eager to attract local investors.

But, after moving to Los Angeles, immersing himself in the community and hiring several top executives with deep roots in Southern California, he no longer believes he needs local investors to introduce himself around town.

He also said he does not need the additional millions in capital for a winter in which Beltre and starting pitcher Odalis Perez can file for free agency and Gagne figures to seek a long-term contract.

“It’s more than just having investors for investors’ sake,” McCourt said. “We don’t need the money. A year ago, I would have said having some investors from L.A. would be a positive for bringing local knowledge. At this stage ... on that one criterion, I’m not as concerned.”

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Sunday’s crowd of 56,268 was the largest for a Dodger game in Dodger Stadium history. The previous record was 56,242 for Game 4 of the 1981 World Series.... Longtime Dodger physician Frank Jobe was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center during Sunday’s game after complaining of severe abdominal pains. According to a club spokesman, he was treated and released.