WHO'S ON FIRST? DODGERS HOPE TO HAVE POSITION SOLIDIFIED IN NEAR FUTURE.

Byline: TONY JACKSON  Staff Writer

Other than the pitcher's mound and home plate, there is perhaps no spot on a baseball field more active during the course of nine innings than the first-base bag.

For the Dodgers, it figures to be a major focal point of the coming winter, as well.

Will the club re-sign Nomar Garciaparra? Is James Loney ready to take over on an everyday basis? Is Jeff Kent willing to move there if he is asked? The short answers are probably not, probably not and probably. The long answers require a little more investigation, beginning with the Garciaparra issue, which no one on either side is willing to touch so far with the Dodgers in the midst of a pennant race.

Here's the deal: last offseason, Garciaparra was a free agent coming off an injury-plagued season in Chicago, and as such had little negotiating leverage. The Dodgers got him to sign an incentive-laden, one-year contract with a $6 million base salary, with a series of plate-appearance bonuses that could inflate that figure to $10 million.

Since then, Garciaparra has put together his best season since 2003. Although he has done two stints on the disabled list, both were relatively brief. He led the National League in hitting early in the season, and he still is batting .309 with 17 homers and 80 RBIs. And, he has made a flawless transition to first base, a position he had never played before joining his hometown Dodgers.

Garciaparra already has accrued enough plate appearances to push his salary to $7.5 million. It likely will cost the Dodgers more than that annually to retain him, and given his history of injuries, it likely will cost more than the Dodgers are willing to pay.

Whenever he is asked about returning to the Dodgers, Garciaparra is typically evasive, saying he likes playing here but that only time will tell. Whenever general manager Ned Colletti is asked, he says he won't attempt to negotiate new contracts with any of his free-agent players until after the season.

But if Garciaparra is on the way out, the next question is, who is on the way in? The upcoming pool of free agents is expected to be thin, especially at first base.

Detroit's Sean Casey is available, but he already is making $8.5 million, and his career numbers don't compare favorably to Garciaparra's. Baltimore's Kevin Millar also will be out there, but he has a $2.1 million base salary with incentives that could drive his deal close to Garciaparra's base.

And then, there is the 22-year-old Loney, a defensive wizard who finally is coming into his own as a hitter. He ran away with the Pacific Coast League batting title by hitting .380 for Triple-A Las Vegas in between his three big-league promotions. But Loney's home-run total fell from the career-high 11 he hit last season at Double-A Jacksonville to eight, and that was while playing half his games at Las Vegas' hitter-friendly Cashman Field.

Therein lies the issue with Loney: corner infielders are supposed to hit for power, and despite the fact he began his third callup of the season by homering to the opposite field in his first at-bat against Colorado's Manny Corpas on Sept. 2, Loney hasn't shown enough of it.

Yet.

``We have to see more,'' said Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, who didn't specifically mention Loney's power. ``I think he is vastly improved from early in the season. I think his experience up here the first time, he saw how high the bar is. When he came back the second time, we saw a different player.

``As time goes on, there will be even more there.''

Loney was recalled for the first time on April 4, two days before Las Vegas' season began, and batted .225 until Garciaparra returned from the DL.

He returned on July 29 when Garciaparra was battling a sprained right knee. Loney's second big-league stay lasted nine days past Garciaparra's return from the DL, and it included a .313 average that had raised Loney's overall mark to .264 by the time he was sent back to Las Vegas.

Loney said it was a chance conversation with infielder Ramon Martinez at the batting cage midway through that second stay with the Dodgers that might have turned around his season.

``He said I was gripping the bat too tightly,'' Loney said. ``He said I should just hold it loosely in my stance, and when I went to swing, my hands would tighten on it naturally. I tried it in batting practice, and I immediately felt the ball come off the bat differently.''

Martinez said he told Loney that by squeezing the bat in the early part of his stance while waiting for the pitcher to deliver, he was fatiguing the muscles in his arms. The results speak for themselves. But the immediate future hasn't spoken yet.

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CAPTION(S):

5 photos, 2 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) Nomar Garciaparra has been solid for the Dodgers at first base this season, but his price tag may be too high for the team to keep him.

Stephen Dunn/Getty Images

(2 -- color) NOMAR GARCIAPARRA

(3 -- color) JAMES LONEY

(4) James Loney has proven he can hit for average in the minor leagues, bu can he hit for power?

Richard C. Lewis/WireImage.com

(5) LOWE 

Box:

(1) DODGERS AT CHICAGO CUBS

- Tony Jackson

(2) GETTING HOT TOGETHER