THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LOS ANGELES — Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti says he doesn’t know how much money he can spend to improve the debt-riddled team in 2011, but he doesn’t expect major upheaval of the roster.
Colletti met Monday with incoming manager Don Mattingly and the baseball operations staff to discuss the recently concluded season and look ahead to next year.
Colletti says the Dodgers will have a budget that will allow them to compete, as he said they did this season, but owner Frank McCourt has yet to let him know how much it is.
"I’ll wait and find out what it is rather than guess," he said. "We don’t have to put the team together today.
"We’ll have a good core back and hopefully we’ll be able to add to it."
Asked if he was bothered by the indecision, Mattingly replied, "Not at all."
McCourt was booed by fans on Sunday when outgoing manager Joe Torre publicly thanked him.
The divorce trial of Frank and Jamie McCourt began in August and overshadowed the final months of the season. It ended Sept. 29, and the judge has three months to decide whether Frank is the sole owner of the team or Jamie is a co-owner.
But Colletti denied the trial, which detailed the couple’s lavish spending and ugly accusations against each other, had any impact on the team.
Colletti said he has yet to discuss the season with McCourt since it ended, but that the owner "wants to win."
The Dodgers ended the season Sunday with a 3-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. They finished fourth in the NL West with an 80-82 record in Torre’s last season. It was their first losing season since 2005.
Torre and Colletti plan to meet this month to discuss a possible role for Torre, who at 70 chose to end his 29-year managerial career.
"I’d like him in a role with some substance," Colletti said, adding Torre would be valuable in acquisitions and player development.
After making a run to the NL championship series the previous two years, the Dodgers stumbled in the second half and weren’t a factor in the playoff race down the stretch.
"This year didn’t go anything like we thought it would or could," Mattingly said. "Seems like everything went bad."
They failed to get major production from Andre Ethier and Matt Kemp in the heart of their lineup. Ethier started strongly, but broke his pinkie finger in mid-May and never recovered offensively.
Kemp also put up big numbers early, but he tailed off and was publicly criticized by Colletti. Kemp, who made more headlines for dating singer Rihanna during the season, hit seven home runs in his first 14 games and ended the season by homering in his final five games.
"I learned a lot about myself this season," he said. "Just keep playing hard and whatever happens, happens."
Ethier and Kemp are signed for next season, along with infielders Casey Blake, Jamey Carroll, Rafael Furcal and closer Jonathan Broxton.
Pitching was a problem, too.
Broxton saved the all-star game for the National League in July, then lost his role by mid-August. His earned-run average ballooned to 7.58 over the final two months of the season. However, Mattingly expressed confidence that Broxton will reclaim his role next year.
Three-fifths of the starting rotation becomes free agents, leaving only youngsters Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley in the fold for next year.
Kershaw had a 13-10 record with a 2.91 ERA while reaching 200 innings for the first time in his career. Billingsley recovered from a slow start to go 12-11 with a 3.57 ERA. He is eligible for arbitration in 2011.
Veterans Hiroki Kuroda, Ted Lilly and Vicente Padilla could go elsewhere.
Lilly, acquired in a trade deadline deal with the Cubs, says he wants to stay in his hometown of Los Angeles. But he would like a multi-year deal, which could be a stumbling block with the budget-conscious Dodgers.
Reliever Hong-Chih Kuo ended the season with a 1.200 ERA, the lowest in team history among pitchers who threw at least 50 innings. He also is eligible for arbitration, as are infielders James Loney and Ryan Theriot, catcher Russell Martin and reliever George Sherrill.
In addition to Kuroda, Lilly and Padilla, the Dodgers have six free agents, although 40-year-old catcher Brad Ausmus retired Sunday. The others are catcher Rod Barajas, outfielders Jay Gibbons, Reed Johnson, and Scott Podsednik, and reliever Jeff Weaver.
Mattingly has yet to name his coaching staff, although veteran bench coach Bob Schaefer reportedly won’t return. Mattingly and Colletti will choose the staff sometime in the next month.
"I want to be able to trust the guy I have with me," said Mattingly, who has no previous managerial experience. "I want to make sure I get a guy who’s been there before."
Mattingly will leave for the Arizona Fall League on Wednesday, and Torre has said he’ll visit him there in an unofficial capacity.
