DODGERS TURN ATTENTION TO SAN FRANCISCO AND OLD FRIEND BAKER.

Byline: Matt McHale Daily News Staff Writer

After getting turned down by Felipe Alou, the Dodgers will ask the San Francisco Giants permission to talk to Dusty Baker about filling their vacant manager's spot, club sources said Monday.

Like Alou in Montreal, Baker is the heart and soul of the Giants, probably the one figure they can least afford to lose. And like Alou, Baker still is under contract with two years remaining.

So the Dodgers must receive permission to formally speak to Baker, who won the National League West in 1997 and led the Giants this past season to a wild-card playoff with the Chicago Cubs after picking up four games in the final week.

General manager Kevin Malone refused to comment on the possibility of snatching the popular former Dodgers left fielder, who just happens to manage the club's most bitter rival.

``There is a process that must be followed at the risk of tampering with people under contract,'' Malone said. ``There are quality people out there and we will look into them.''

Malone has spoken to Davey Johnson, whose references include World Series and division championships managing the New York Mets and division titles with the Cincinnati Reds and Baltimore Orioles.

But no interview has been scheduled for Johnson, who was in Baltimore in 1996-97 when Malone was an assistant to Orioles GM Pat Gillick. Johnson is reportedly very interested in the job and anxious for an interview.

Malone, who began his search two weeks ago with a phone call to former Florida manager Jim Leyland, said the earliest he would talk to Johnson would be at the end of the week.

``I hear where Davey is wondering about an interview, but I've been in touch with him and he knows what is going on,'' Malone said. ``There were two situations that needed to be addressed. I knew Leyland didn't want to come to Southern California (he signed with Colorado), but I needed him to tell me that and he did.

``Then I needed Felipe's situation to run its course. I was hoping he'd come and thought he would, but his ties to Montreal were too strong. Those were unique situations. That is not a reflection of the Dodgers manager's job.''

Johnson is a proven winner, but has not gotten along well with ownership during his three managerial stops.

``To say he is difficult is not true,'' Malone said of Johnson, who lives in Orlando, Fla. ``Maybe he was like that earlier, but he wasn't difficult to work with in Baltimore. He has his own style. He is considered something of a maverick, but he just wants to win. I think that is a misrepresentation.''

Sources said the Dodgers also are expected to contact Minnesota about Tom Kelly, who led the Twins to World Series titles in 1987 and `91 but has been working under severe budget constraints the past five years.

Kelly is still under contract so permission to talk must be granted by the Twins. Kelly has promised the Twins he will stay at least one more season, but with a payroll under $25 million, it will be difficult to field a winner.

Another candidate is Milwaukee's Phil Garner, whose club faltered in the second half of its first season in the National League. Brewers general manager Sal Bando received a contract extension last week but said Garner's status is under review.

The thread running through Baker, Kelly and Garner is the lack of a competitive payroll. Baker had the highest at just over $40 million, a figure Giants owner Peter Magowen hopes to keep in place in 1999. But the Giants still lost $15 million last year despite their success. The Dodgers projected payroll for 1999 is $75 million.

Notes: The Dodgers traded right-hander Eric Weaver to the Seattle Mariners for 19-year-old right-hander Scott Prouty. In a late-season callup, Weaver went 2-0 with a 0.93 ERA in seven games after spending most of the season at Triple-A Albuquerque. Prouty, pitching in the Arizona Summer Rookie League, went 3-2 with a 2.44 ERA in 11 starts for Peoria.