Colletti Is Retooling Dodgers Without Hocking the Farm

Say what you will about all these new, old, renewed, recycled, friends-of-Frank, neighbors-of-Ned, shady-past, soccer-hubby Dodgers.

As important to them this winter are the names that have not been in the headlines.

Not one word about a top Dodger prospect.

Not one word about the Angels.

In rebuilding a team he hopes will keep the stadium warm until the arrival of the Jacksonville Five, Ned Colletti has done two things.

He has kept alive their most important buzz, while stifling their most competitive buzz.

It’s a nice little daily double, not enough to make a man rich, but enough to keep him playing, and far more than anyone could expect.

Two months into the winter, folks are still talking about Andy LaRoche and James Loney and one of baseball’s most stocked farm systems.

And nobody is talking about the Angels.

Said new General Manager Colletti gruffly: “I’m too busy worrying about my own team to care about a buzz.”

Said Angel counterpart Bill Stoneman: “Headlines don’t win games, and our focus is on winning games.”

Whatever, the Dodgers are embracing both the sound and the silence, and not necessarily in that order.

Let’s start with the sound.

Tuesday’s signing of cantankerous Kenny Lofton makes it official, the Dodgers now look exactly like the San Francisco Giants, minus that awful smell of garlic fries.

If that thought makes Dodger fans nauseous, well, would you rather continue being green with envy? By plugging holes with veterans while slowly integrating their kids, the Giants have become the most consistent winner in the West. Cheating off them may be painful and humbling, but it’s not dumb.

And it’s not only the Giants who build that way. The gazillion-division-titles-in-a-row Atlanta Braves have won in recent years with patchwork lineups containing the likes of Brian Jordan, Vinny Castilla and Julio Franco, who is older than all Lasorda.

If you don’t find much exciting about a new infield featuring Bill Mueller, Rafael Furcal and Nomar Garciaparra, ask yourself this:

Would you rather have Mike Edwards, Antonio Perez and Hee-Seop Choi?

At least this year’s decorations are familiar, and, if we don’t like them, their short contracts or LaRoche’s long swing could quickly make them distant memories.

“I’m trying to build a winner for ‘06, but, also, three years from now, I don’t want to look back at some of these contracts and say, ‘What was I thinking?’ ” Colletti said. “I want to build a winner while buying time to get a better feel for our prospects.”

The outfield situation is a little trickier, especially since some of the chip that departed with Milton Bradley has returned on the shoulder of Lofton, who is joining his eighth team in six years. He has an edge that most teams agree could be disruptive if he stuck around longer.

“I admit, Kenny has a little strut on him, but that’s OK,” Colletti said. “He knows how to win.”

All of which pushes the Dodger payroll to above $90 million with reachable incentives, which means the next play belongs to owner Frank McCourt.

The team cannot make the playoffs without another starting pitcher. A decent one will cost them at least $8 million. Acquiring this pitcher will put the Dodger payroll at around $100 million, a figure McCourt has continually promised and continually failed to meet.

This is his chance to finally make good on his word while ensuring that his general manager’s previous moves would not be irrelevant.

Now, for the silence.

Remember the Angels? Last we looked, they were allowing the Chicago White Sox to win the American League pennant with a bullpen tied behind their back.

The Angels limped out of October needing a hitter. They have since lost two starting pitchers and a starting catcher.

They finally traded for a left-handed reliever in J.C. Romero, and acquired another strong and flexible arm in Hector Carrasco, but their biggest news was a whiff.

They wanted Paul Konerko but, for seemingly the first time since Arte Moreno took over, they didn’t get what they wanted.

So what now?

Stoneman is so secretive, it would not be a surprise if one day soon, with no notice, he shows up at an Anaheim lectern standing next to Manny Ramirez or Miguel Tejada.

But, for now, the silence reflects, well, silence.

“For us, the answer could lie within,” Stoneman said. “Not to say we aren’t still having discussions, still trying to do things, but you can build a team many different ways.”

In other words, they are looking at giving Dallas McPherson another shot at third base, Casey Kotchman a shot at being the designated hitter and Jeff Mathis a chance to become the catcher.

Ervin Santana will be the fourth starter. One of a group of kids, including Jered Weaver and Joe Saunders, could be the fifth starter.

As for the missing offense, they hope it will come from a more comfortable Steve Finley, a healthier Garret Anderson and a fresher Vladimir Guerrero.

They are betting on youth while praying for the aging. Sounds a bit risky, doesn’t it? Isn’t very Angel-like, is it?

Of course, just down the road are the likes of Brandon Wood and Howie Kendrick, two of baseball’s best prospects who just happen to form a double-play combination.

But they’re not ready now, and haven’t Moreno’s Angels been about winning now?

This was going to be the year that, despite playing in a smaller stadium, the Angels were finally going to sell more tickets than the Dodgers.

Colletti, a veteran of two-team markets in the Bay Area and Chicago, has stolen some of that hype.

Moreno needs to steal it back. As it was throughout September and October, Los Angeles has again become a one-town team. Only this time, it’s not the Angels.

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Bill Plaschke can be reached at [email protected]. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

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GM at work

Since becoming Dodger general manager on Nov. 16, Ned Colletti has been busy rebuilding the roster. A look at his deals:

* Dec. 20 -- Signed outfielder Kenny Lofton to a one-year contract and re-signed first baseman Hee-Seop Choi to a one-year deal.

* Dec. 19 -- Signed infielder Nomar Garciaparra to a one-year contract.

* Dec. 16 -- Released outfielder Jason Grabowski.

* Dec. 14 -- Signed third baseman Bill Mueller to a two-year contract. Signed catcher Sandy Alomar Jr. to a one-year contract.

* Dec. 13 -- Acquired outfielder Andre Ethier from Oakland for outfielder Milton Bradley and infielder Antonio Perez.

* Dec. 7 -- Signed free-agent shortstop Rafael Furcal to a three-year contract and re-signed infielder Olmedo Saenz to a two-year contract.