Sam Fernandez

Company: Los Angeles Dodgers Inc.

Title: General counsel and secretary

Born: Guines, Cuba, 1954

Education: B.A. in sociology and political science, UCLA, 1976; J.D., UC Hastings College of Law, 1980

Most Admired Person: His wife, Susan Stelter

Turning Point in Career: Being picked to work with the Dodgers while at Latham & Watkins

Hobbies: Playing guitar and collecting first-edition books

Personal: Married, two children

Fred Claire is gone, as is Bill Russell and even Peter O’Malley. But less than a year after Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought the Dodgers for $311 million, one veteran executive has managed to hang on: Sam Fernandez.

Fernandez, 43, began working with the Dodgers in 1983 when his former employer, Latham & Watkins, loaned him to the team as an in-house counsel. In 1994, Fernandez joined the team as a permanent employee. He now holds the title of secretary and general counsel.

Fernandez’s primary role is helping the general manager first Claire and now Kevin Malone negotiate contracts with players. That’s not always easy; the last time Fernandez’s name was in the news, he was having a hard time putting a value on the contract of Mike Piazza a statement that angered the star catcher. Piazza eventually was traded away. And the recent trade of Bobby Bonilla, who had been critical of team officials, was apparently unpleasant enough that Fernandez will not even discuss it.

Question: The team just signed pitcher Jeff Shaw to a contract worth about $5.5 million a year, making him one of baseball’s highest paid closers. What was your role in that?

A: In the Shaw deal, my role was to talk to Shaw’s agent, Joe Bick, and to talk to him about the specifics of the contract. In this particular case, there were a lot of discussions (before the contract reached me). Kevin (Malone) and Joe talked about ballpark (figures), and I talked about the various specifics of how we work out the years and the buyouts and things of that nature.

Q: It must be hard to keep from paying too much when you’re trying to keep a player, like Shaw, who is valuable to the team.

A: Shaw is incredibly valuable to the team. Setting aside the Shaw negotiation, in any player negotiation, there are varying degrees of leverage. In a situation where the club has made it known publicly that it wants to or must have a player, it has less leverage than where there is a comparable player to be signed elsewhere. And those are the things that come into play in negotiations. It is leverage.

Q: How about the signing of outfielder Devon White?

A: That one is one of those situations where Kevin had a good relationship with Eric Goldschmidt, the agent for Devon. They had a very brief conversation, then we met in a restaurant in Anaheim. Kevin and I met with Eric and, in the course of conversation, we negotiated a deal. Eric was very straightforward as to what he was looking for, and we negotiated the deal during the lunch. (There was) a little bit of writing on napkins. Kevin has known Eric for a long time, and so have I. That helps. Relationships help.

Q: Is the buying and trading of players more difficult this year than in the past?

A: This year we have more arbitration-eligible players than we have had in the last few years. So that makes for more work. We’ve seen from 1983 to the present a tremendous escalation in player salaries. As I recall, the Dodgers’ 1986 payroll was $6 million. Today, it depends on when you calculate it, but I can tell you that it’s over $50 million.

Q: That’s a major escalation.

A: Right. And what I have seen as a club official from 1983 to the present is just some incredible changes in the game. I was there when the Dodgers acquired Eddie Murray. And I remember the discussions with Fred (Claire) that acquiring a player with three years left at $2.5 million a year was a tremendous obligation to undertake. Well, I was there when we signed Orel Hershiser to $7.9 million a year. And if I’m not mistaken, that landed him on the cover of one of the national magazines.

I was also there later that year in the negotiations for Mark Langston, where the bidding literally came to the Dodgers and the Angels, with the Angels winning by making a $16 million guaranteed contract offer.

Q: What has all that done to your job?

A: It’s made it very interesting.

Q: What’s this time of year like for you?

A: Incredibly busy. One of the things I always chuckle about is this phrase “the off-season.” We have to re-sign most of our players to new contracts. We do have some players that are on multi-year deals. But you have to remember that on a 40-man roster, most of those guys are on one-year contracts, so we have to negotiate all of those.

The other thing that keeps us busy at this time is that we’re negotiating our sponsorship agreements for next year who will sponsor the promotions that we do. So that’s a lot of contracts.

Q: It seems there was a time when players were part of a family particularly with the Dodgers and stayed with the team for a long time. Now they come to negotiate with their agent, ready to leave if the salary isn’t to their liking. It seems it would make your job much more contentious.

A: Well, I know that people like to say that. I have to tell you, I consider my relationship with most of the agents to be extremely cordial non-combative. I understand that we’ve had labor problems, and I understand that the relationship from the outside can be viewed as contentious sometimes. But frankly, I’ve enjoyed over the years working with the agents and negotiating with them.

Q: There must have been contentious deals though. What about the Mike Piazza situation?

A: I understand how it was portrayed in the press, but I would not characterize my dealings with (Piazza’s agent) Dan Lozano as contentious.

Q: How have things changed since Peter O’Malley sold the team to News Corp.?

A: My responsibilities really haven’t changed on a day-to-day basis. I would say the biggest change is that there are more reporting obligations, but that’s pretty standard when you’re dealing with a major corporation as opposed to what amounts to a family-owned business. There are more people that I need to report to. Fox has a litigation department, insurance, and all of those kinds of things that require additional reporting.

Q: Under the new ownership, is there more emphasis being placed on paying top dollar for experienced players, rather than trying to develop young players?

A: You still are looking everywhere you can look to find talent. I think those efforts certainly have not changed. For example, our camp in the Dominican Republic is as active today as it’s ever been. Our worldwide scouting is as active as it has ever been.

Q: You have a great view of the field from your office. Do you watch games from here?

A: Actually, I don’t watch the games from my office because there are people sitting out there (in front of the window). So it’s a little uncomfortable. You have a tendency to feel like they’re looking back at you.

Q: Where do you sit?

A: I usually sit close to the press box, so that I have easy access.

Q: But if you don’t want to be watched?

A: I close the drapes and turn on the monitor.

Q: So you’re here with this great view of the game, and you’re watching the TV?

A: Yeah, I know, I know. It’s one of those things. I have a terrific view it’s a spectacular view during the day. But when the game starts, I usually close the drapes and watch it on the monitor. But then again, I get to hear Vin Scully on the feed.

Q: Do friends hit you up for tickets?

A: (laughs) They know I work here. I get occasional calls.