DODGERS UPDATE: TRACY NEGOTIATIONS DRAG ON NO PROGRESS ON DEAL FOR MANAGER.Byline: Tony Jackson
Anthony (Antonio) Jackson, best known as Tony Jackson Staff Writer As baseball's general managers' meetings wound down Thursday in Key Biscayne This article is about the island named Key Biscayne. For the village on the island of the same name, see Key Biscayne, Florida. For the tennis tournament sometimes referred to as Key Biscayne, see Miami Masters. , Fla., the Dodgers' Paul DePodesta Paul DePodesta (born December 16, 1972) is baseball front-office assistant for the San Diego Padres. He has also served as general manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers from February 16, 2004 to October 29, 2005. was unique among his 29 counterparts: He was the only one there who, technically speaking, didn't have a field manager. All indications are negotiations on a new contract for Dodgers manager Jim Tracy
drag out last, endure - persist for a specified period of time; "The bad weather lasted for three days" 2. at least until early next week, which will be the sixth week since the club was eliminated from the National League playoffs. Tracy, who guided the club to the Western Division title last season and never won fewer than 85 games in any of his first four years at the helm, last week spurned spurn v. spurned, spurn·ing, spurns v.tr. 1. To reject disdainfully or contemptuously; scorn. See Synonyms at refuse1. 2. To kick at or tread on disdainfully. v. an initial two-year offer from the club. The length of the negotiating process has become rather bewildering be·wil·der tr.v. be·wil·dered, be·wil·der·ing, be·wil·ders 1. To confuse or befuddle, especially with numerous conflicting situations, objects, or statements. See Synonyms at puzzle. 2. . Every other major-league managerial vacancy has been filled, and Tracy didn't surface as a candidate for any of them, at least not publicly. That fact would seem to give the Dodgers all the bargaining power. ``For me, it's not really about leverage,'' DePodesta said Thursday. ``I don't want to force something down someone's throat and make them unhappy about it. At the end of the day, that's a recipe for a final contract between two parties, because that's never going to work out well.'' There also is the matter of ``market value,'' a concept routinely cited by agents that refers to what others with similar experience and track records are making, and there is some question as to whether the Dodgers' initial offer to Tracy was in line. Market value notwithstanding, at this point there isn't anywhere else for Tracy to go, at least not if he wants to manage in the big leagues in 2005. ``I know that's the case right now, just like it is with any employee or, for that matter, any player with fewer than three years of (major-league) service time,'' DePodesta said. ``(But) you would like to come to a mutual agreement on things as opposed to dictating the outcome, even if you do have all the leverage.'' Tracy and his agent, Alan Hendricks, have at least one card left to play: If negotiations collapse and the Dodgers have to find a new manager for next season despite what Tracy has accomplished, there will be considerable public-relations fallout fallout, minute particles of radioactive material produced by nuclear explosions (see atomic bomb; hydrogen bomb; Chernobyl) or by discharge from nuclear-power or atomic installations and scattered throughout the earth's atmosphere by winds and convection currents. for the organization. Judging from the way DePodesta boldly shook up a first-place club at last season's trading deadline, the rookie GM doesn't base decisions on how he thinks fans and the media will react. Tony Jackson,(818) 713-3675 tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com |
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