Team Exceeds His Expectations

Although General Manager Paul DePodesta is not satisfied with the Dodgers’ success this season, he acknowledged Sunday the National League West leaders have exceeded his expectations.

“I would have been surprised if someone told me in spring training we’d be where we are going into the final week of the season,” said DePodesta, who accompanied the team for the last six games of its final, nine-game trip.

“Actually, I think we’ve exceeded expectations by a wide margin. I don’t think anybody expected that these final seven games would mean as much as they do and we’d be in the position that we’re in.”

DePodesta, 31, has made many major moves in his first season running a baseball operation, and the team is on the verge of its first division title in nine years. The Dodgers’ magic number is five.

Outfielders Steve Finley, Milton Bradley and Jayson Werth, acquired in trades, have been key contributors. Versatile reserve Jose Hernandez, whom DePodesta chose to be on the opening-day roster, has provided a major boost.

His boldest move, though, has not worked out well for the Dodgers.

In a controversial six-player deal, DePodesta traded setup man Guillermo Mota and All-Star catcher Paul Lo Duca to the Florida Marlins for pitcher Brad Penny, first baseman Hee-Seop Choi and a minor league pitcher. DePodesta envisioned Penny being the front-of-the-rotation starter the Dodgers lacked, but the right-hander suffered a nerve problem in his pitching arm in his second start, aggravated it after a six-week layoff and won’t pitch again this season.

Choi is batting .158 with no home runs since joining the Dodgers. He has not started since Sept. 4 and has three at-bats in the team’s last 20 games.

However, Adrian Beltre, Cesar Izturis and Alex Cora have had career years, helping the Dodgers overcome deficiencies in other areas.

“I remember saying a lot in spring training about the fact that there was ample room for in-house improvement even if we didn’t make any deals before the end of spring,” DePodesta said. “The guys like Izturis and Beltre ... they’ve exceeded any expectations you could have possibly had for them. We’ve also had some other nice surprises like Jose Lima. He has pitched great for us.”

DePodesta said his first set of goals for the baseball operation were accomplished faster than he expected.

“Going into it, I had three goals and I didn’t know how long any of the three would take to achieve,” he said. “Obviously, we wanted to win, which was goal No. 1. No. 2, I wanted to build a foundation of young players who could be here for a while.

“And No. 3, I wanted to create a little bit more financial flexibility for us going forward, so that we could be competitive in some of the opportunities that might be out there free agent-wise. I didn’t imagine that we would be able to accomplish all three things in the first year, and I think we have. In that sense, I’m thrilled with the way the year has gone.”

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Odalis Perez might start on three days’ rest Sunday against the San Francisco Giants at Dodger Stadium if the Dodgers are still fighting for a playoff berth, Manager Jim Tracy said.

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Although a hairline fracture on his pitching thumb has not healed, Lima said he expected to make his next scheduled start Thursday against the Colorado Rockies. The right-hander aggravated the injury Saturday when he took a one-hopper off his right hand in a 9-5 loss.

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ON DECK

Opponent -- Colorado Rockies, four games.

Site -- Dodger Stadium.

TV -- FSN West 2 all four games.

Radio -- KFWB (980), KWKW (1330).

Records -- Dodgers 89-66, Rockies 67-88.

Record vs. Rockies -- 8-7.

Tonight, 7 -- Edwin Jackson (2-1, 5.12 ERA) vs. Shawn Estes (15-7, 5.70).

Tuesday, 7 p.m. -- Kazuhisa Ishii (13-7, 4.84) vs. Jamey Wright (2-2, 4.33).

Wednesday, 7 p.m. -- Odalis Perez (7-6, 3.35) vs. Jeff Francis (3-2, 6.16).

Thursday, 7 p.m. -- Jose Lima (13-5, 4.06) vs. Jason Jennings (11-12, 5.69).

Tickets -- (323) 224-1448.