Dodgers Get a Big Assist From Rivals

From prep school to old school, the Dodger focus flips today; smartly and solidly and finally.

His name is Ned Colletti, and he’s an old-time baseball guy, from his affection for snakeskin boots to his love of snake-free clubhouses.

He will be named as the new Dodger general manager in a morning news conference which, to be true to Colletti, should take place behind a batting cage.

That’s where the guy has lived for the last two decades, first in Chicago, then in San Francisco, often in first place.

Since Colletti became the Giants’ assistant general manager in 1997, the team has compiled the third best record in baseball with Barry Bonds and a bunch of character guys.

Colletti, 50, loves the character guys.

He helped build a 2002 World Series team with a lineup that featured Benito Santiago batting fifth, David Bell playing third and Shawon Dunston doing whatever.

Months after the last Dodger regime traded Paul Lo Duca, Colletti worked out a Giant contract for Mike Matheny.

While the last Dodger regime didn’t see the value in Adrian Beltre, Colletti was signing Omar Vizquel.

While the Giants struggled with injuries, their first losing season with Colletti, they were still in the race in the final week, and Matheny and Vizquel won Gold Gloves.

For years, the Giants have succeeded despite a brooding superstar and a mid-level payroll. Colletti has been in the middle of all of it.

Of course, he has never been at the front, and that’s the biggest question.

The last Dodger boss was a number-two executive who could not make the leap, so what makes us think Colletti can?

As deeply as Paul DePodesta was hidden behind Billy Beane in Oakland, hasn’t Colletti been hidden behind Brian Sabean in San Francisco?

He’s an inside guy, a contract guy, a batting cage guy, how can he be a front guy?

And, heaven knows, after his organization spent the last couple of weeks in chaos, Frank McCourt needs a front guy strong enough to make him disappear for a while.

Colletti could be out of his league, a guy who blinks hard under the Hollywood lights.

He’s not a safe bet (Pat Gillick), or a sentimental bet (Orel Hershiser), or a nationally popular bet (Theo Epstein).

Of those three, only Gillick was offered the job, but their names filled local sports pages long before Colletti’s appeared.

He wasn’t the first, second, maybe not even the third choice.

But there are a couple of reasons he could be the right choice.

First, the Jeff Kent factor.

Kent is the Dodgers’ most respected player, and he has often spoken of his admiration for Colletti as a front-office guy with people skills who understands his team.

Colletti worked diligently to keep relative peace in a place where Kent and Bonds so disliked each other, they once fought in the dugout. Insiders there say it could have been much worse.

Here’s guessing that Kent recommended Colletti and will give him the clubhouse support to make tough decisions. And here’s guessing that if Colletti spent last season with his finger on the clubhouse pulse, maybe the Kent and Milton Bradley feud ends before it starts.

Second, the Logan White factor.

The Dodger scouting director is the star of the organization, having built one of baseball’s best low-level minor league systems, with last year’s double-A Jacksonville club voted the minors’ best.

Look for White to become one of Colletti’s top evaluators, moving up perhaps even as assistant general manager, a situation that will work because Colletti will listen.

That’s the thing about being 50 instead of 32. You know that you don’t know it all. Colletti understands this, and will probably surround himself with smart people who will only make him look better.

Then, of course, there’s the best thing about this hire.

It’s a Giant killer.

Colletti worked in a small front office group where he will be sorely missed. Anything that hurts the Giants is good for the Dodgers, right?

We’ll learn much about Colletti when he completes his first task, that of hiring a manager. He knows everybody in baseball, and he values experience and winning, so don’t be surprised if his list is a bit different from the first one compiled by the last general manager.

Could Lou Piniella suddenly enter the mix? Maybe Jim Fregosi? Having worked in a couple of two-team markets, Colletti understands the importance of owning a town, so maybe he will call down the road to Bud Black?

Whatever Colletti does, expect that he has already started doing it, this old-school guy whose voice mailbox was full Tuesday night, the Dodgers’ best hope for the calm after the storm.

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