It’s Start of Something Big for Adams

Sometimes, as the baseball proverb goes, the best trades are the ones you don’t make. Let us add that sometimes the best contracts are the ones you don’t sign.

In the spring, when Terry Adams was a middle reliever, the Dodgers discussed a multiyear contract with him. The two sides never agreed on a deal, even on a one-year deal, and an arbitrator awarded Adams a $2.6-million salary this season.

Now Adams is a starting pitcher and a pending free agent, a combination that could be quite lucrative this year. With the list of potential free-agent starters thin beyond Chan Ho Park--the most recognizable names include James Baldwin of the Dodgers, Ismael Valdes of the Angels and Sterling Hitchcock of the New York Yankees--Adams could well double his annual salary.

Adams, 28, who ranks second to Park in victories on the Dodgers, is 10-6 with a 4.65 earned-run average. In free agency, he said, he plans to negotiate only with teams wishing to sign him as a starter.

“I’ve had success, and I don’t know why I would take myself out of a situation where I’ve had success,” he said. “That would be a step backward.”

Even though the Dodgers’ rotation next season is unsettled--with Park, Baldwin and Adams as pending free agents, Kevin Brown, Andy Ashby and Darren Dreifort coming off injury and youngsters Eric Gagne and Luke Prokopec still unproven--they have deferred all contract talks until after the season. Adams said he is eager to “see what other teams think of me as a free-agent starter” but is interested to hear from the Dodgers too, thankful for Manager Jim Tracy’s idea to convert him into a starter.

“I owe it to him to be receptive to what the Dodgers have to say,” Adams said. “I wouldn’t be in position to be a free-agent starter if not for him.”

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Tracy plans to meet today with interim General Manager Dave Wallace and assistant Dan Evans to discuss a potential postseason roster and September roster additions. Players on the 25-man roster and the major league disabled list as of Friday are eligible for the postseason roster. The roster limit expands to 40 Saturday, and the Dodgers plan to call up several players from triple-A Las Vegas then and several more after the Pacific Coast League season ends Monday.

The Dodgers sent pitcher Jeff Williams to Las Vegas on Tuesday, clearing a roster spot so they could activate Brown; Williams will return in September but would not be eligible for a playoff roster. The Dodgers also plan to consider the promotion of pitchers Dennis Springer and Al Reyes (assuming Reyes clears waivers this week), catchers Brian Johnson and Angel Pena, infielders Chris Donnels and Phil Hiatt, and outfielder McKay Christensen, all of whom have appeared in Los Angeles during the season.

“I feel very strongly that those people who have contributed to the success of this club, as minuscule as it might have been ... must be taken into consideration,” Tracy said. “I think it sends a very positive message.”

Donnels or Hiatt could arrive sooner than Saturday should the Dodgers decide a playoff roster should include another bat on the bench. The Dodgers also plan to activate infielder Tim Bogar and pitcher Jesse Orosco from the disabled list after rosters expand.

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Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek cannot yet throw effectively because of a fractured middle finger on his right hand. But he said the swelling had gone down and the feeling had increased since he suffered the injury Sunday.

If all goes well, he said, he will take batting and fielding practice today and return to the lineup Thursday or Friday.

Even if all does not go well, Tracy said the Dodgers have ruled out putting him on the disabled list because of the pending roster expansion.

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The Dodgers’ Web site (https://www.dodgers.com) has hired a new columnist--Sarah Morris, the Texas woman profiled last week by Times columnist Bill Plaschke.

Morris, 30, who is afflicted with cerebral palsy, spends an average of 55 hours per week on research and writing to maintain her fan site about the Dodgers.

Morris will write one column per week during the season and one column per month during the off-season, Dodger Web official Ben Platt said.

TONIGHT

DODGERS’

JAMES BALDWIN

(2-1, 3.47 ERA)

vs.

ROCKIES’

JASON JENNINGS

(1-0, 0.00 ERA)

Dodger Stadium, 7

TV--Fox Sports Net 2

Radio--KXTA (1150), KWKW (1330)

Update--After one game, Jennings is in the Hall of Fame. In a 10-0 victory over the New York Mets last week, he became the first player to pitch a complete-game shutout and hit a home run in his major league debut. His hat and bat are on the way to Cooperstown. Baldwin faced the Rockies in his Dodger debut last month, giving up two runs over eight innings and receiving no decision.

Tickets--(323) 224-1448.