WHILE DODGERS TALK, THE ANGELS GET IT DONE.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

ANAHEIM - Way over here, on the other side of the local baseball combat zone, there were smiles all around.

Torii Hunter was lighting up the room with a megawatt smile. Kennedy High of Granada Hills grad Jon Garland was swelling the rotation to sixquality starters.

Baseball's winter meetings are still a week away and the Angels have already been proactive. Making trades, signing free agents, leading the Hot Stove League parade.

Waving from the sidewalk as the Angels passed by were -- shh! -- the Dodgers.

The Dodgers need just as much help as the Angels, unfortunately they need the same kind of help: starting pitching, an outfielder and a third baseman.

Thus far, the Angels have added a two-time 18-game winning pitcher and the best free-agent outfielder.

The Dodgers have changed managers and suddenly become more starry-eyed over their inexpensive young players.

Like it's not bad enough the Dodgers folded down the stretch last season, losing a sweet opportunity to make the playoffs while the Angels were capturing their division, now their "Los Angeles" rival is kicking their offseason booty.

Both teams have been in serious discussions with the Florida Marlins for third baseman Miguel Cabrera and look longingly upon Minnesota Twins starter Johan Santana.

If one of the two teams were to land either, where are you placing your bets?

Angels owner Arte Moreno is talking about investing in his business, Dodgers owner Frank McCourt is talking about how he doesn't have to do anything.

"We're talking about a lot of players," Moreno said. "What's happened to us a couple of times the last few years, is we really zeroed in on a couple of players and didn't get it done."

So this offseason, they are not waiting around, trying to woo a Paul Konerko or an Alfonso Soriano with so much affection there's no one left to love when they move on.

There are still 2(bul) months before teams report to spring training. Plenty of time for deals to be made, free agents to be signed, teams to be improved.

And let's be clear, all those Dodger kids are swell and full of potential and bode well for the team long term. But if the team returns basically intact next season, they can't count on the kids' maturation to take the team to the next level. They still need to be supplemented by veterans.

"I think we have to be wise," said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti on Tuesday. "We can't just do a deal to do a deal.

"We've been talking about finding someone who could hit 20-25 home runs, but I think our first baseman (James Loney) and our right fielder (Matt Kemp) both might be able to do that right now, from what I saw from them the last month of the season."

This would be dramatically different from Colletti telling me the last week of the season:

"There is something to be said for veteran experience, for guys having been there. That's going to be one of the challenges of the winter, to get the kids enough support."

And much different from when McCourt, at the press conference to introduce Joe Torre as their new manager, said he wasn't overly concerned with an increased payroll:

"It's going to be whatever it takes to win. But it's not just about spending money. It's about spending money wisely."

Apparently, wisely could mean not spending at all.

McCourt in Sunday's Boston Globe: "I think we're in good position right now. We don't have to make a deal. We made the biggest move we needed to make in signing Joe."

Right, that'll get those turnstiles rolling. There's talking and then there's acting. Right now, McCourt talks.

Moreno said last season the Angels' payroll was about $113million, slightly more than the Dodgers'.

After signing Hunter to a five-year, $90-million deal, Moreno said the current payroll is about $125 million. Which has already pushes them over budget. And Moreno continues to explore adding more high-priced talent.

"The one thing you say is, are we making an investment?," Moreno said. "Are we doing something for the short term that's a Band-Aid? Then to me I don't think it's worth going over budget.

"But if you're doing something because you're going to make an investment because you believe it's going to make your organization or business better long term, then you make the investment."

Cabrera would fit the investment category. He's a power hitter and only 24.

Moreno said twice the Angels believed they had successfully swung a deal for Cabrera, only for the Marlins to come back asking for more.

"They're doing it to everybody," he said. "I read an article about Colletti, and I think he felt he had a deal and it changed. They've maneuvered us against each other."

The Marlins want fourplayers, three major leaguers -- including a pitcher, plus a pitching prospect.

That's where the deal has become pricey to Moreno.

"If we can improve our team and it fits, we're going to do it," he said. "(But) this is really going to be tough to give up the talent."

Moreno maintains it wouldn't bother him to lose Cabrera to the Dodgers any more than any other team.

"The Dodgers play in the other league," he said. "I wish them well. What is it, five years in a row we've both gone over three million (in attendance) when everybody said it couldn't be done.

"To me, if they're successful, we're successful, it's good for baseball."

If the Dodgers are going to be successful next season, they'd best get moving. The parade is going by, and is being led by the team on the other side of the county line.

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Photo:

New Angels Torii Hunter, left, and pitcher Jon Garland (Kennedy High of Granada Hills) are introduced at a news conference Wednesday.

Ric Francis/The Associated Press