SAFE AT THIRD PEREZ, OTHERS HAVE MANNED HOT CORNER ADMIRABLY, EASING LOSS OF BELTRE.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The ghost of Adrian Beltre was supposed to haunt the Dodgers forever.

Beltre, who carried the team to last year's National League West Division title, signed with the Seattle Mariners last winter and was expected to demonstrate how wrong the Dodgers were to let him get away.

The Dodgers tried to fill his spot at third base with a career minor-leaguer who never played the position and a veteran with a sub-.250 career batting average who barely played there the past three years.

With the new season barely one-third gone, that script has undergone a drastic rewrite.

Beltre, hitting .244 for the Mariners with five home runs and 30 RBI, isn't on pace for anything close to last season, when he finished second in National League Most Valuable Player voting. Veteran Jose Valentin was supposed to get most of the playing time at third after signing a one-year, $3.5 million, free-agent deal last winter, but he could be out until August with three torn ligaments in his right knee.

The Dodgers, meanwhile, are using Antonio Perez, who had 61 games of major-league experience entering this season and in spring training didn't want to play third base and gave absolutely no indication that he ever could.

So far, so good.

``We haven't gotten power production, but ... we are extremely pleased with the job Antonio Perez is doing right now, both offensively and defensively,'' manager Jim Tracy said. ``Especially considering that he's a young guy playing a position for the first time.''

In 25 games, including 17 starts at third base, Perez, acquired from Tampa Bay in a trade in April 2004, is batting .363. He has just one homer, five doubles and seven RBI, but he also has a sterling .446 on-base percentage.

Those numbers are hardly Beltre-esque. But beyond asking him to master a new position, the Dodgers never asked Perez to be anyone but himself.

``The way we tried to overcome (losing Beltre) was by replacing his production in the aggregate,'' general manager Paul DePodesta said. ``I feel like we were able to do that. I don't think we ever looked at it as finding a comparable third baseman.''

For now, they don't even have what they consider an everyday third baseman, although Perez has gotten most of the starts lately. Tracy occasionally plays Olmedo Saenz at third, frequently inserts Oscar Robles as a late-inning replacement and even starts Mike Edwards on rare occasions. Saenz and Edwards are hitting well above .300, but they can play other positions and are especially valuable off the bench.

Edwards, whose contract was purchased from Triple-A Las Vegas when Valentin went down, is 5 for 8 as a pinch-hitter.

``Coming into the situation, I knew that would probably be my role,'' said Edwards, who signed as a six-year, minor-league free agent and went to spring training as a non-roster invitee. ``I have no problem with it whatsoever. It took me a while to get here, and I'm counting my blessings a little bit just to be in this position. Antonio is playing really well, and I just hope to take advantage of whatever opportunities I'm given.''

The key for Perez was a hamstring injury he suffered April 8 in the Dodgers' fourth game of the season. It was his first start, and it was at second base because Perez hadn't given Tracy any reason during spring training to trust him at third.

On April 28, Perez was sent to Las Vegas for what officially was a rehabilitation assignment but ostensibly was a third-base primer. His mission was to learn to play the position at the right hand of 51s manager Jerry Royster, a former big-league third baseman.

Three weeks later, Perez returned looking like a different player. Since then, he has continued to work with Dodgers infield coach Glenn Hoffman. During that time, Perez has committed just three errors at third, two of them on May 27. And although he has yet to make a highlight-reel play, he has made countless ``pick-it'' plays on tough hops almost as routinely as Beltre once did.

The question is what will happen when, and if, Valentin returns. The original plan was for Valentin and Perez to share time, and that likely will happen on a more equal basis now.

``We'll see where they're at,'' Tracy said. ``We're getting way too far ahead of ourselves even thinking about it right now. (Valentin) has another three weeks before he even involves himself in baseball activities. That probably means he won't be back until the end of July or early August, and a lot of things could take place during that period of time.''

Just don't expect one of those things to be a lot of errors at third base.

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos, 3 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Antonio Perez has started 17 games at third base and is hitting .363 with a .446 on-base percentage.

(2) Antonio Perez has made just three errors since returning from a hamstring injury May 18.

Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) DODGERS at K.C.

- Tony Jackson

(2) DODGERS ALMANAC 

(3) PEREZ FILE