Little bit of trouble in L.A.

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Owner Frank McCourt is "quite upset" with the Dodgers' performance down the stretch, according to a source close to the team. But while people in the front office are bracing for change, two Dodgers observers say they are fairly sure that GM Ned Colletti is "safe." However, Grady Little could still be in a little trouble, according to those people.

Nobody is predicting that Little will be fired yet, but if he is, Dusty Baker could be a candidate for the job. Baker, a longtime Dodgers player, managed the Giants when Colletti was in the front office there. Baker is also close to Jeff Kent, who has the ear of McCourt's wife, Jamie, the team's vice chairman and president, if the Dodgers do decide to make a change.

The Dodgers' clubhouse situation is dreadful, according to people close to the situation. The older players believe many of the top young prospects have shown them no respect. Some of those complaints have legitimacy. But one problem is a lack of strong veteran leadership since the defection of Greg Maddux to the rival Padres.

Little was known for running a cohesive clubhouse in Boston (that was supposed to be his strength), but he recently admitted that he was unable to bridge the generation gap that exists in the L.A. locker room, as Kent has recently aired the dirty clubhouse laundry in the Los Angeles papers.

Parity or parody?

There's a chance for a record in the National League, as it's possible that no team wins even 91 games. Arizona is the only team with a chance for 92 wins, and it'll need a sweep over Colorado. With Colorado (87 wins) and Arizona (89) playing each other the final weekend, it's a guarantee that at least one team will win 90.

The Padres have 88 wins and could get to 91 with a sweep of Milwaukee, while the Phillies or Mets could also win 91 if they both sweep their series with the Nationals and Marlins (in that case the winner of their potential playoff would have 91 wins). The record for fewest wins by a league leader in a 162-game schedule is 91, held by the 1983 Dodgers, the '82 Cardinals, the '74 Orioles and the '67 Red Sox.

Around the Majors

• Nobody can be surprised if Tony La Russa leaves St. Louis. He and GM Walt Jocketty could not have been happy with a tight budget that hamstrung the World Series championship team. And anyway, La Russa seems to like to move every decade or so.

• Doug Mientkiewicz has raised his average from .225 on Sept. 15 to .274 today (that's no misprint). But the Yankees might wonder about the one who got away. Carlos Peña, who was released last year by the Yankees and has an astonishing 44 homers this season with Tampa Bay, has hit eight home runs against them (that's no misprint, either) -- all since the All-Star break.

• Brewers owner Mark Attanasio said a couple days ago that manager Ned Yost's job is safe, in the wake of complaints in Brew City about the team's downturn. Attanasio is going to want to keep his word. But Yost did not distinguish himself this week, getting ejected from two out of three games, then getting suspended for Thursday night's game for a beanball incident. That game -- a 9-5 defeat to San Diego -- seriously hurt Milwaukee's chances.

• The Brewers have blown chances to move up two straight days. And now they have Chris Capuano, who almost never wins, pitching Friday. Milwaukee has lost the last 21 games in which Mr. Good Luck Charm himself has appeared (and 17 of those losses were started by him). And get this, that's after winning the first seven games he started. The man who began 5-0 and is now 5-12.

• The Angels didn't go hard to the finish for a team that would have enjoyed the home field advantage. They are 54-27 in Anaheim, or L.A., or wherever it is they play. By spending the last few days setting up their rotation and biding their time, they will probably lose a first-round matchup with the Yankees, a team they've beaten twice in the playoffs since 2002.

• The Mets' collapse borders on the historic. No team has ever lost a seven-game lead with 17 to play, but they put themselves in position to do just that by losing a full game nine of the last 15 days. On the plus side, the 2005 White Sox sucked air to the finish line, as did the '06 Tigers and Cardinals.

• Yet, the Mets have been especially awful, allowing 57 runs in six games to outmanned Washington, dropping eight straight to Philly, then losing Thursday night to out-of-the-race St. Louis, which came to New York for just one makeup game. Yes, the same Cardinals who knocked them out last year, only a bare-bones version.

• The Mets are only 40-38 at Shea, which doesn't sound like a home record for a playoff team. Three more defeats will make them a loser at home for the year.

• The Cubs, who've lost 10 straight to the also-ran Marlins (dating back to last year), and the Mets, who can't touch the Gnats, don't especially feel like playoff teams -- though at least the Cubs probably will be one.

• New York Post back-page headline: "Paging Dr. Heimlich." As Gary Gaetti once said in explanation for an error: "It's hard to throw to first with your arms wrapped around your neck.''