DODGERS NOW MUST SIGN BROWN.

Byline: MATT McHALE

Randy Johnson on the mound Opening Day at Dodger Stadium. Count on it.

OK, so he'll be pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks, who signed him Monday to a four-year, $53 million contract. But if he is facing Kevin Brown on April 5 at Chavez Ravine, no one will remember that the Dodgers started the 1999 season 0 for 3.

Monday reminded many of last September, when the Dodgers wanted Dave Dombrowski as their general manager and wound up with Kevin Malone. It continued in October when they wanted Felipe Alou as their manager and got Davey Johnson.

Monday, they missed on Randy Johnson, but it was hardly strike three.

It is not October. It is 2-1/2 months to spring training. Malone will build a team that will cover all the bases. Davey Johnson will disrespect enough players to show he is boss. Individually those two never have fielded teams that underachieved - a word stitched on the back of every Dodgers jersey in this decade.

But as November becomes December, the missing ingredient still is Kevin Brown.

Johnson might be baseball's most dominant left-hander, a pitcher the Dodgers courted with $52 million. In Brown, the Dodgers would get baseball's much more - and it is reflected in the six-year, $72 million contract he is seeking. But they must step up now if they truly want to get their team rolling again.

They must forget that Brown will be getting $15 million to pitch when he is 39. Everyone will be getting $15 million by the time Brown is 39.

Brown is the best teammate a player can have, not because he always smiles but because he never smiles.

Johnson would have made the Dodgers better every fifth day, but Brown can make the Dodgers better every day. His conditioning, work ethic and sinker are among the best in the game. Combined, they provide an example for every member of the Dodgers starting rotation.

Brown, who pitched in the World Series for Florida and San Diego the past two years, doesn't have a better fastball than Ismael Valdes, but he has the heart that is so much bigger than the one Valdes lost the last two seasons.

It's true Valdes might be long gone by spring training. He is one of the few commodities suitable for helping rebuild the Dodgers' feeble offense. The team likes his ability but says not so quietly that there might not be any way to salvage the rest of his game.

Last season, the best pitched games involving the Dodgers were Brown's six-inning perfect game that was lost with one bad inning and Valdes' two-hit shutout in June against the Oakland A's. Put those two together and see what happens.

There are two names that come to mind when thinking about Brown. Andy Ashby and Joey Hamilton - two members of the Padres starting rotation last season. They were ordinary pitchers who did extraordinary things with Brown as their guide. Many credit pitching coach Dave Stewart for adding grit to the Padres rotation. But that was only partly true. Brown was the beacon and everyone in the San Diego clubhouse knew it.

He had a confidence that Chan Ho Park lacked for much of last season. Park was brilliant down in the final months of the season when everyone except Tom Lasorda knew the season was over. Now, it is time to see Park do it when it counts, but he should not do it while trying to be the ace of the staff.

The same is true of left-hander Carlos Perez. After coming over from Montreal, he pitched four consecutive complete games in September. But for all his bravado, Perez has never been in a meaningful game beyond the All-Star break. It's not his fault, but there is a lot to learn. Like the games you have to put aside after the bullpen blows a certain victory. When that happened in the last week of August, Perez didn't talk to his manager for two weeks.

Before Dave Mlicki joined the Dodgers, the New York Mets said he had the best stuff in their organization. But he couldn't get over the hump because he never believed in himself. In the clubhouse, he wasn't pompous like Valdes, who never seemed to notice everyone was glaring at him. Mlicki was one of the good guys. But he also pitched scared.

Sure, the Dodgers got closer Jeff Shaw to forget his trade demand by reworking his contract into a whopper. And they signed aging center fielder Devon White to a three-year, $12.4 million contract. But that was just basic accounting.

Now comes the heavy lifting. The St. Louis Cardinals know they won't get 70 home runs from Mark McGwire again and will be going hard after Brown. So will Baltimore, where Brown pitched in 1995 under Davey Johnson. Brown loved playing in San Diego, but it seems unlikely San Diego can afford the salary he can command.

Colorado tried to call the six-year contract bluff of Brown's agent Scott Boras, then called back to say it would like to talk some more.

There is the Dodgers' competition. For a team that found a way to unload Bobby Bonilla's contract, it can't seem that daunting.

But the clock is running. Maybe Opening Day isn't so far away, after all.

WHO`S LEFT

With Randy Johnson signing a huge deal with Arizona, the Dodgers are left with Kevin Brown and a bunch of less than stellar pitchers in the free agent market. Here's a look at some of the remaining free agent pitchers, with last year's teams and records:

Player Team Record

Kevin Brown San Diego 18-7

Doug Drabek Baltimore 6-11

Tim Belcher Kansas City 14-14

Jimmy Key Baltimore 6-3

Jack McDowell Angels 5-3

Bob Tewksbury Minnesota 7-13

Orel Hershisher San Francisco 11-10

Mark Portugal Philadelphia 10-5

Pete Schourek Boston 8-9

CAPTION(S):

Box

BOX: WHO`S LEFT (see text)