Michael Ventre

LOS ANGELES -

Here’s a dandy juxtaposition for you:

On Thursday, it was announced that, because of a budget crisis, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger plans to issue an executive order that will slash the pay of more than 200,000 state workers to the federal minimum wage of $6.55 per hour.

Meanwhile, Dodgers outfielder Andruw Jones is in the first year of a two-year, $36 million contract. He is currently batting .166, with two home runs and 12 RBIs.

Obviously, Schwarzenegger and the state legislature have their hands full, but perhaps the federal government can provide the Dodgers with some kind of bailout. It can be argued that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac haven’t been nearly the disasters that Jones has been.

But this tale of woe isn’t about Jones alone. It’s mostly about Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti, who is looking at next Thursday’s trade deadline in much the same way that Gary Cooper looked at the clock in “High Noon.” Colletti may be a boob, or he may just be unlucky. But it’s safe to say that if he fails to swing a significant deal between now and the deadline, he will become known for his gaffes, and perhaps eventually for being unemployed because of them.

It’s difficult to rip a GM after the fact because, even in this age of advanced digital communications, crystal balls are fallible. Besides Jones, the other festering sore on the Dodgers’ roster — courtesy of Colletti — is Jason Schmidt, whom the Dodgers signed to a three-year, $47 million deal late in 2006.

Colletti could not know that Schmidt’s shoulder would turn that contract into a bottomless pit of fiscal sorrow. In 2007, Schmidt made six starts before shutting it down, going 1-4. He has yet to pitch in 2008. On Thursday, it was reported that Schmidt had an injection to relieve some discomfort. If only they had such injections for general managers.

In fairness, Schmidt was a sought-after free agent in 2006 who had been the San Francisco Giants’ lone All-Star. His numbers were impressive and he seemed like a sound investment.

Colletti’s current predicament might not seem so precarious if not for Jones, a star for the Atlanta Braves who apparently decided to eat an entire Piggly Wiggly before reporting to spring training with the Dodgers. Other corpulent men have managed to wield a hot stick in the majors over the years, but Jones isn’t one of them. He is in danger of becoming one of those people you see on the “NBC Nightly News” that is shown from the neck down during a report on obesity.

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Schmidt and Jones are enough to drive Colletti into a bunker, but that’s not all. The team has been ravaged by injuries, most notably to position players Rafael Furcal, Nomar Garciaparra and Juan Pierre and pitchers Brad Penny and Hiroki Kuroda.

The crowded infirmary isn’t Colletti’s fault, of course. But he’s in charge. When the team doesn’t do well, fans tend to focus on bloated Andruw rather than aching Rafael. And that phenomenon only increases the pressure on the GM to make some sort of deal.

The Dodgers are fortunate to be in a dog division. They’re only one game out of the division lead, currently held by the Arizona Diamondbacks. But they’re 49-52 and they have shown nothing to suggest that, if they indeed weasel into the postseason, they’ll do anything but bow out immediately.

The club has been reluctant to trade away any of its young prospects, especially Matt Kemp, James Loney and Andre Ethier. Yet there clearly is unrest in Dodger Nation. Whatever good will the Dodgers gained by hiring Joe Torre to manage the team has slowly evaporated as the team has trudged along in a quagmire of mediocrity.

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