A restless boss

He's happy.

But he's not that happy.

He loves Joe Torre.

But he hates that some of his prized kids don't pay attention to him.

He thinks it would be unfair to discuss Ned Colletti.

But I'm guessing that discussion wouldn't be very pretty.

With the All-Star break beckoning, with his team bearing down on both first place and abject mediocrity, Frank McCourt phoned the other night to offer his midseason view of the Dodgers.

It's typically rosy, yet, for the first time, there are some thorns of disillusionment.

He's weary of talking only about championships. He's weary of spending money for injuries. He's weary of testing his fans' patience.

From Colletti to those kids, he is not only asking for accountability, he is demanding it.

Soon, there could be big changes without it.

He didn't say it, but he didn't have to.

"I think, yes, we are on the right track," McCourt said. "But we are also a work in progress."

A few minutes later, he said it again.

"We need to reestablish a culture of winning . . . and that takes the right people, the right personnel, the right approach, and we are gaining on that," he said. "But on the other hand, we still have a ways to go."

So the owner clearly believes something is missing.

I asked if he thought this winning culture is being fostered by Torre.

"Joe Torre embodies everything I just said," he said. "He has kept us focused. He has been a true leader."

That leaves Colletti and any underachieving players as candidates for his disappointment.

Both seem to fill that role.

McCourt would not discuss Colletti's future, saying, "I think it would be unfair to point fingers, it doesn't do anybody any good."

But after two years of bad luck and bad decisions, Colletti's shaky tenure was clearly rattled again this week with a story that spoke of either chaos or subterfuge.

In a report in the Daily News, sources told veteran scribe Tony Jackson that McCourt had killed a proposed deal for Cleveland Indians pitcher CC Sabathia because of money concerns.

McCourt was initially angry because, after funding baseball's seventh-highest payroll at about $118 million, how could he be accused of pinching pennies?

"That I would kill a good deal for money is ridiculous," he said.

But the bigger issue is, who would have given that information to Jackson in the first place?