Dodgers Will Wait on Manager

Although Terry Pendleton bowed out of consideration for the Dodger managerial job Tuesday, General Manager Paul DePodesta said he doesn’t expect to make a hire before the World Series because owner Frank McCourt wants to spend time with the finalists.

Pendleton, the Atlanta Brave batting coach, was scheduled to interview today. However, he informed DePodesta that he did not want to move his family too far from their Georgia home. Pendleton interviewed Monday for the Tampa Bay Devil Ray opening and a source close to the Devil Rays said he remains a candidate there.

As for the Dodgers, no other candidates are scheduled for interviews, and DePodesta still hasn’t spoken to any of the former Dodgers he said three days ago he would contact. He hasn’t asked permission from the Texas Rangers to speak to pitching coach Orel Hershiser or from the Chiba Lotte Marines of the Japanese league to speak to Manager Bobby Valentine.

Valentine, a former Dodger player and former manager of the Texas Rangers and New York Mets, led the Marines to their first Japan Series berth in 31 years by beating the Softbank Hawks in the semifinals. The Marines will begin the best-of-seven series Saturday.

Valentine, the first foreign manager to reach the Japan Series since Hawaiian Wally Yonamine did so in 1974, is in the second year of a three-year contract.

The Dodgers also have expressed interest in talking to 1988 World Series star Kirk Gibson, and a source close to Gibson said he is anxious to speak to DePodesta. Gibson has served as bench coach and batting coach for the Detroit Tigers under Alan Trammell, who is one of five candidates DePodesta interviewed last week.

Terry Collins, the Dodger farm director, is the leading candidate, according to several sources. Others interviewed are Dodger triple-A manager Jerry Royster, San Francisco bench coach Ron Wotus and Cleveland minor league manager Torey Lovullo.

“We already feel very good about some of the candidates we’ve interviewed,” DePodesta said. “We would be very excited to work with actually more than just one of those we’ve interviewed.”

He said McCourt will talk to more than one finalist, which probably would bump the hiring process into next week. Major League Baseball frowns on major announcements coming during the World Series, so the Dodgers probably would wait until afterward to make the hire.

DePodesta said he welcomes McCourt’s input. “We are all in this together,” he said. “It’s not completely unlike many of our player moves. He is the owner and has to be on the same page. To this point, it hasn’t been an issue.”

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The Dodgers are embarking on a winter marketing campaign without having filled a six-month-old vacancy for a senior marketing executive.

McCourt fired chief marketing officer Lon Rosen in April and appointed his oldest son, Drew McCourt, 24, as marketing director, saying there was no immediate need to make a permanent hire because most marketing is done in the off-season.

That time is upon them. After a turbulent summer that included their second 90-loss season since 1944 and the departure of manager Jim Tracy, the Dodgers must convince fans to renew season tickets and corporations to purchase suites and sponsorships.

“This is the business cycle of the baseball year,” said David Carter of the Sports Business Group in Redondo Beach. “If you are going to bring somebody in, you’re better off bringing them in at the beginning rather than bringing them in later to implement someone else’s marketing plan.”

A Dodger spokeswoman said there is no timetable on making a hire. In the meantime, the team is forging ahead with a business plan devised by Dodger President Jamie McCourt, Drew McCourt and chief operating officer Marty Greenspun.