FOR DODGERS, IT'LL BE DARKEST JUST BEFORE DAWN?

Byline: Brian Dohn Staff Writer

They Dodgers used to be a stable franchise, but now they are more known for chaos.

And as disorderly as this season was, it figures to get worse before it improves. The 18 months of Fox ownership has been marked by turbulence, upheaval and firings. Fans are disgusted and the rest of baseball is laughing.

As pivotal as next season will be to the futures of general manager Kevin Malone and manager Davey Johnson and the direction of the Fox Dodgers, the offseason will be more important. And potentially more frustrating.

Bench, bullpen and balance are the focal points of the Dodgers offseason - the key spots to improving an overpaid, overhyped team that will see its complexion changed dramatically for the second straight year.

The Dodgers want to make changes, yet they admit it might not be possible to make all the changes they want. More sobering, though, the Dodgers might not be able to make the changes they must make to be, at the least, competitive. Certainly they were not that in going 77-85 and finishing in third place in the National League West.

The Dodgers want to trade high-priced veterans, and anyone not named Kevin Brown or Chan Ho Park is considered moveable. Because the Dodgers' payroll will jump from $80 million to $92 million next season thanks to contractual raises and expected arbitration cases, they need to move players.

Among them are:

Pitcher Ismael Valdes, who's lack of gumption frustrated the Dodgers. He has one of the best arms in baseball and could fetch some nice returns. He's arbitration eligible and should make around $6 million.

Second baseman Eric Young, but the Dodgers had no success trading him in the last 12 months because he's guaranteed $4.5 million each of the next two seasons.

Right fielder Raul Mondesi, though teammates wonder whether it would be wise to give up on a guy Eric Karros and Gary Sheffield call the most talented player in baseball. Mondesi is guaranteed $20.5 million over the next two seasons.

Center fielder Devon White, whose $10 million over the next two years is enough reason to move him.

Sheffield, who became the second Dodger to hit at least .300 with 30 homers and 100 walks, runs and RBI in a season, is a financial burden because he's tied up for $38 million over the next four years.

And finally, the Dodgers would rejoice if other teams would inquire about Jose Vizcaino ($3.5 million) and Carlos Perez ($11 million over the next two seasons).

``I believe we know what we want to do, but it can depend on what we're able to do,'' Malone said. ``We can have a lot of goals and plans, but unless we can find someone that we can work with and get things done with, that doesn't matter.''

Complicating the issue is baseball's view of the Dodgers. Other teams don't like them, compounded by some of Malone's brash comments last offseason and in the spring.

So other teams aren't willing to help the Dodgers in trades, and the free-agent market is considered weak. But with the purging of the payroll, the Dodgers don't figure to jump into it much, anyway, unless they're searching for bench or bullpen help.

``Some guys had some decent years, but there are definite weaknesses in the organization we have to address,'' Johnson said. ``Unfortunately, there's not a lot of depth in the system. The areas we looked at in the bullpen, we've seen flashes of something that might work but nothing you can put in the bank.''

Johnson spent much of the season grumbling about the lack of a left-handed power hitter in the lineup. He wanted to break up the right-handed trio of Sheffield, Karros and Mondesi but couldn't do it because switch-hitting Todd Hundley never materialized into the offensive threat the Dodgers expected. He had 24 homers but batted .207 and had 113 strikeouts compared to 78 hits.

It doesn't seem to matter that Karros, Sheffield and Mondesi combined for 101 homers (54 percent of the Dodgers' total) and 312 RBI (41 percent).

Yet several of the key veterans favored the Dodgers' newfound catch-phrase of ``tweaking the roster'' rather than overhauling it.

``I don't think it has to be a major overhaul, but that's Kevin and (assistant to the general manager) Bill Geivett's call,'' Hundley said. ``We desperately need a fifth starter, a starter that's going to pitch a lot of innings. We have horses in Chan Ho, Brown, (Darren) Dreifort. We need that fourth and fifth starter to throw and have good games for us.''

It was a miserable year that was supposed to end the pandemonium in the organization. Instead, pitching coach Charlie Hough and president and CEO Bob Graziano were fired, Mondesi bashed management, there was strife in the clubhouse, a lack of communication between Johnson and some players, fines from the commissioner's office for the handling of the Dave Mlicki trade and the Dodgers' illegal scouting in Cuba.

Not to mention the Dodgers had their worst on-field season since 1992.

``If you can't learn something from going through something like this, you're bound to make the same mistakes,'' Brown said. ``What do we do to be better for next year and make sure this year doesn't happen again, that's got to be the focus.''

10 Unforgettable Moments in a Forgettable Season

1. April 5: Raul Mondesi's two-run homer in the 11th beats Arizona in the season opener. Return to glory for the Dodgers is underway.

2. April 23: Fernando Tatis hits two grand slams off Chan Ho Park - in one inning. He's the first in baseball history to do it.

3. May 2: Two minor-leaguers say Dodgers helped arrange defection from Cuba, which is against major-league rules. Dodgers eventually fined, lose two players.

4. May 5: Carlos Perez misses a start after mysterious knee injury. Says he hurt it shagging balls, but speculation is he fell while out on the town in Montreal.

5. May 26: Pitching coach Charlie Hough is fired because of starters' lack of preparation. Starting pitchers were 19-16 with a 4.19 ERA. They finished 63-60, 4.48.

6. June 5: Park initiates fight with Anaheim's Tim Belcher for hard tag. Park suspended for seven games, maybe should have accepted four-year, $36 million in offseason.

7. July 11: Dodgers finally show fight. Todd Hundley, Pedro Borbon, Rick Dempsey ejected in brawl with Seattle.

8. July 23: At Arizona, Mondesi spends half-inning in Dodgers' bullpen instead of on bench. Manager Davey Johnson says no big deal, but GM Kevin Malone irate and questions team's heart.

9. Aug. 11: Mondesi demands trade in an obscenity-laced tirade directed at Johnson and Malone. He was fined but not suspended for direct insubordination.

10. Sept. 28: President and CEO Bob Graziano fired. Even finishing the season without a murmur seems impossible.

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, box

PHOTO (1) Raul Mondesi is called the most talented player in baseball by teammates Eric Karros and Gary Sheffield.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(2) Teammates mob Raul Mondesi after his game-winning home run in April, but more has gone wrong than right for the Dodgers this year.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

BOX: 10 unforgettable moments in 1999 (see text)