Evans Takes Nice First Step

Dan Evans did OK for himself. He didn’t knock this one out of the park, but he stayed with the pitch and went to the opposite field. Nice piece of hitting.

The Dodger general manager got Jeromy Burnitz from the New York Mets for three minor leaguers, without sacrificing any of his top prospects.

With all of the harping from the fans, players and media, Evans had to do something.

But at least he didn’t do anything foolish or irrational. He made a solid move, bringing in an outfielder hitting .274 with 18 home runs, 45 runs batted in and a .581 slugging percentage in exchange for infielder Victor Diaz and pitcher Joselo Diaz from the Dodgers’ double-A affiliate in Jacksonville, Fla., and Kole Strayhorn from Class-A Vero Beach.

To alleviate payroll concerns, the Mets will pay a portion of Burnitz’s $12-million salary this season.

On top of that, the Dodgers signed Rickey Henderson, who I believe was scouted at the La Brea Tar Pits.

Rickey’s coming! I don’t care if Henderson has an on-base percentage of .000, as long as Rickey’s mouth is working, the Dodger season will be fun. They just got one of the best quotes in baseball.

So Evans gets bonus points for the entertainment value.

And Evans might get a few days’ worth of quiet.

“There was a lot of clamoring for a deal,� Evans said. “We really needed the other team to agree that we had a deal on the table. It took a while, but this time of year, deals take longer than they do later in the season. I think we were willing to wait until we got the right deal.�

Not only did Evans get it right, he was right.

I thought back to a conversation from about a month ago, when I bumped into Evans at Dodger Stadium an hour after a game. Life was good. The Dodgers had a share of first place, they had a strong stable of pitchers and a happy clubhouse.

But even then there was clamoring for another hitter. Evans said he was manning the phones, but he didn’t expect anything to happen until the All-Star break and the trade deadline approached.

That’s the way the timetable played out.

The Florida Marlins took Mike Lowell off the market, removing the prime target.

The Pittsburgh Pirates wanted too much for Brian Giles -- Odalis Perez and/or the Dodgers’ top two pitching prospects, Edwin Jackson and Greg Miller.

With Darren Dreifort out for the season and Kevin Brown on the disabled list, the Dodgers can’t afford to get away from their strength, pitching. Plus trading Perez would mean they have nothing left from trading Gary Sheffield -- who was all they had left from the Mike Piazza trade.

Perez, you’ll recall, came with Brian Jordan from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for Sheffield in January 2002.

They’ve already lost Jordan to a season-ending injury, and he isn’t expected to return after he becomes a free agent in the off-season.

As rough as things were for the Dodgers, the situation was even worse for the Mets. Mo Vaughn was useless. Piazza went down with an injury. Closer Armando Benitez couldn’t hold leads.

General Manager Steve Phillips was fired in June, and this month Roberto Alomar was traded to the Chicago White Sox as the Mets started dumping payroll.

When the other shoe dropped, Evans swooped in to catch it.

There are some drawbacks. Burnitz, 34, is in the final year of his contract -- so this isn’t a long-term solution for the Dodgers.

And he is a left-handed hitter, which means he can’t offer the same protection behind lefty Shawn Green that a right-handed hitter could provide.

Burnitz has improved his hitting enough that he isn’t a complete liability against left-handed pitchers. Last year he hit .174 with three home runs in 121 at-bats vs. left-handers, part of the worst season of his career. He was so bad during one hitless doubleheader that the Shea Stadium fans grew tired of booing him and started a sarcastic chant of “M-V-P.�

This year he’s hitting .253 with five home runs in 79 at-bats vs. left-handers.

“Now I have a simpler approach: Get a good pitch and swing at it,� Burnitz said. “I’m just executing every at-bat better, one at a time. Getting good pitches, getting good swings.�

He suffered a broken bone in his left hand in April and missed 25 games. But any concerns about the injury’s lasting effects were alleviated when he hit three home runs in the first four games after he came off the disabled list. He has 15 home runs since his return.

This is a good step, a move to give the Dodgers a little pickup as they head into the second half of the season.

This might stop some of the players -- particularly Perez -- from grumbling about the lack of moves by the front office. But it doesn’t assure clubhouse peace.

Burnitz took a swing at relief pitcher Guillermo Mota after Mota threw inside on Piazza during a spring training game.

At least the Dodgers don’t have to worry about Burnitz switching over to a new league, or adjusting to a new environment. He was born in Westminster and spent the first eight years of his life in Southern California before his family moved to Texas. He showed he still has a touch of SoCal in him when he answered one question “For sure.�

The Dodgers aren’t much better than they were that night I saw Evans, because Burnitz essentially has replaced Jordan. Evans still needs to make one more move if the Dodgers are to reach the postseason.

“I don’t think you’re ever done trying to improve the ballclub,� Evans said. “You’re never finished. You’re always looking to improve your team.�

They took a step Monday. Evans said he wouldn’t do any interviews beyond the team-arranged conference call because he needed to spend time with his family. For now, he has certainly earned it.

J.A. Adande can be reached at [email protected].