Dodgers stealth tactics land their man

LOS ANGELES – Admit it. What for days appeared to be another episode of reckless decisions and bungled stewardship by Los Angeles Dodgers owner Frank McCourt turned into the franchise's greatest coup since drafting Mike Piazza in the 62nd round 20 years ago.

The Dodgers exchanged Grady Gump for Joe Cool.

And another manager to be named later.

The ugly part is all but forgotten. They convinced Grady Little that it was his decision to remain in his North Carolina home hard against the 18th hole at Pinehurst Course No. 7 and relinquish the reins of the Dodgers.

Kids, cover your eyes and ears. This isn't what they teach in Sunday school. The Dodgers' duplicity was staggering. They were dishonest, deceitful, deceptive and … effective.

Little, a man of consummate integrity whose limitations were restricted to sixth-inning pitching changes and a growing inability to communicate with a certain curmudgeonly second baseman, saw through the charade. He knew the Dodgers were courting Joe Girardi, who was offered a three-year, $7.5 million contract but took the same offer from the New York Yankees instead.

And Little might have known that McCourt and general manager Ned Colletti met with Joe Torre last weekend, two days before Little resigned and Colletti would publicly insist he was "compiling a list" of potential managers, implying that Torre was merely one of several equally attractive options, scribbled on a chalkboard alongside the likes of Joel Skinner and Jim Fregosi.

But in an upset, it all worked out. The plan didn't fall apart the way McCourt's even more complicated scheme did two years ago.

Remember? He had general manager Paul DePodesta fire Jim Tracy, then he fired DePodesta, then he tried to replace DePodesta with Pat Gillick, who was to hire Orel Hershiser as his assistant and Bobby Valentine as manager.

Problem was, Gillick wanted no part of being told who to hire, and he became GM of the Philadelphia Phillies instead. Valentine had won a championship in Japan weeks earlier and preferred his newfound status as a national icon. Hershiser kept waiting for his phone to ring and eventually settled in – quite convincingly – as a television analyst.

McCourt regrouped, was widely lauded for hiring Colletti, and, in a leap of faith, signed off on Little as the right choice for the dugout, even though as a Boston blueblood, the 2003 memory of Pedro Martinez rotting on the vine against the Yankees was indelible.

Little guided the Dodgers to a 17-victory improvement and playoff appearance in 2006, and preseason prognosticators had the team reaching the World Series in 2007. Then came the injuries to starters Jason Schmidt and Randy Wolf, then came the losing, then came the dissension, there went Little, who in hindsight only had the backing of McCourt as long as his winning percentage remained well above .500.

In comes Torre, a .605 winning percentage in 12 seasons with the Yankees, a .476 mark in 15 National League seasons before that. He will be introduced at Dodger Stadium on Monday. It might be too soon to bring along Don Mattingly, but by spring training he will wear Dodger blue as well, serving as bench coach or hitting coach and wearing the unofficial title of heir apparent.

Torre is 67. He isn't in this for the long haul. Colletti acknowledged that Torre will be grooming someone. He wouldn't give a name, but anyone who has followed the Yankees knows it is Mattingly, whose son, Preston, is a Dodgers minor leaguer.

"We don't expect Joe to manage a very, very long time," Colletti said. "But in our conversations, if we can groom somebody under Joe's direction, we will do that, just as Tommy (Lasorda) was groomed under Walter Alston's direction."

Meanwhile, Torre is left to navigate the franchise from deceit and deception to credibility and continuity. This is a job he can do. As for getting the Dodgers to the World Series for the first time since the year Piazza was drafted, that's a tougher task.

The Dodgers are two, maybe three years from their core group of young players reaching the maturity of the Colorado Rockies' Holliday-Atkins-Hawpe-Francis nucleus. The NL West will be tougher than ever, with the Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks no longer bowing to the Dodgers and San Diego Padres.

"There is no doubt that (Torre) has had more of a veteran club than he'll have at the outset here, but don't forget that when he started in New York, there was a young Derek Jeter, a young Mariano Rivera, a young Bernie Williams," Colletti said. "He's proven his ability to manage young players, there is no doubt he can do that, and has done that."

Reeling in Alex Rodriguez makes sense for several reasons, foremost being that if the Dodgers are going to pay a manager $13 million, they might as well not shy away from the best hitter on the market. Colletti didn't exactly exude optimism, though.

"The free agent market is thin, and any team that is trying to build via free agency is bound to be disappointed," he said. "Our young players, we need to maximize their ability. It's also about the individual players we have here getting better. You're not always going to be able to call the cavalry."

McCourt and Colletti did, however, bring in the equivalent of Gen. Philip Sheridan, who any Civil War buff knows was assigned to duty in the West after distinguishing himself in the East by playing a large role in Lee's surrender at Appomattox.

Torre knows the drill. He knows about expectations. He knows to watch his back. Given the ammunition, he might even take the Dodgers to a World Series before handing over the reins to Mattingly.

This might turn out to be McCourt's finest hour, Colletti's greatest get. Just don't let the kids in on the details.