A year ago, the Dodgers seemed paralyzed by the Frank/Jamie McCourt divorce. The club did almost nothing of note through the winter and went to spring training with four-fifths of a starting rotation, and one of the four was the personally and professional erratic Vicente Padilla.

While Frank v Jamie continues to grind through the legal system, someone has been deputized — or allowed — to spend a bit of the money Dodgers fans generate for the franchise. (Perhaps the Malibu mansion-buying spree is over, too?)

What the club has done the past week and change almost smacks of intelligent design.

Consider:

After enduring an 80-82 season caused, in large part, by poor pitching (4.01 team ERA, seventh-best in the National League), the Dodgers have made a genuine and even reasonable effort to close up some of the yawning voids.

First came the signing of Ted Lilly, the little left-hander, for three years and $33 million. OK, he’s 34, but he just had his best season. Actually, he has been getting better as he gets older.

Then came the re-upping of Hiroki Kuroda, the surprisingly successful Japanese veteran. Kuroda will be 36 on opening day, an age when you really don’t want to lock yourself in for too many years, and the Dodgers didn’t, getting him for one year and $12 million.

And now … the club has signed Jon Garland for one year and $5 million. Garland is no one’s idea of an ace, though he somehow managed to impersonate one at times last season with the Padres, going 14-12 with a career-low ERA of 3.47. He isn’t actually that good; his career WHIP is a scary 1.38, and he doesn’t strike out people. But as a fifth starter? He will do.

Add those three to Clayton Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, and the club actually has five fairly legit starting pitchers.

The club gleefully announced in a media release: “Garland will join Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda and Ted Lilly in the Dodgers’ 2011 starting rotation that will boast five pitchers who each won 10 or more games last season. Their cumulative 2010 ERA of 3.39 … and .234 opponens’ batting average … would have led all major league starting rotations and their combined 844 strikeouts would have ranked third.”

Clearly, the Dodgers had to get some pitching to compete with the Giants and Padres, and they have.

Also last week, the team announced its coaching staff, and someone had the wit to surround Don Mattingly, Mr. New York Yankee, with a batch of Dodgers or quasi Dodgers, including Rick Honeycutt, Tim Wallach, Ken Howell, Dave Hansen and Davey Lopes.

Another good move. If Dodgers fans have to swallow hard and accept a real Yankee as manager (Joe Torre was only a semi-Yank) … at least he has around him some guys who actually know what the franchise is about.

Hard to say what is going on around Chavez Ravine. Who is in charge? Who is signing off on this? Who is making these decisions?

However it has happening … Frank between court dates, Ned Colletti and Mattingly with Frank signing off … the club is having a far, far better winter 2010 than it did in 2009. And it will get better still if Frank and/or Jamie are forced to sell the club.