You have to respect Texas General Manager John Hart.

Of the dozen or so moves involving big names at the winter meetings in Anaheim this weekend, pretty much the only one that wasn’t either blatantly ridiculous or vaguely pointless was his signing of Richard Hidalgo to a one-year, $5 million contract. Though Mets fans rued Hidalgo’s inconsistent production after he was acquired from Houston this year, he is a superb fielder quite capable of ranking among the five best hitters at his position this year. In comparison, the Angels gave a two-year, $14 million deal to Steve Finley, an old man whose centerfield defense makes Bernie Williams look like Richie Ashburn. Chalk one up for the Rangers.

There were some other defensible moves made over the last few days. Los Angeles signed Jeff Kent to a two-year deal, and Boston signed David Wells to the same; while neither is what he once was, these were smart, calculated risks by teams that have the money and depth to sustain the hit if a veteran in a complementary role suddenly collapses.

That’s about the best that can be said of what went down at the winter meetings. Major league organizations are not run by inept men, yet the signings and trades coming out of the Anaheim Marriot were a series of fiascos, each seemingly worse than the last. Moves like the Finley signing, the Pirates/Indians trade that moved washed-up outfielder Matt Lawton for washed-up reliever Arthur Rhodes, and the Marlins’ multi-year commitment to execrable reliever Antonio Alfonseca had the whiff of the gerbil and the wheel about them.

For sheer, brazen ineptitude, though, it’s hard to choose between the preposterous signings made by the Diamondbacks and Yankees and the apparent insanity of the Athletics. All three organizations can be fitted with the figurative dunce cap; in each case, it is richly deserved.

In Arizona’s case, we can leave aside the fact that the franchise is so saddled with debt that honcho Jerry Colangelo was forced out of power in favor of former agent Jeff Moorad amid rumors that MLB had forgiven $80 million worth of debt to keep the franchise from bankruptcy. Even were they as rich as the Yankees, what in the world could they have been thinking giving $80 million in guaranteed money to Troy Glaus and Russ Ortiz?

Glaus, a low-average slugger who’s missed half of each of the last two seasons and may never be able to play third base again, was given a four-year $45 million commitment, complete with no-trade clause. Ortiz, a reliable no. 2 starter who allowed 17 homers and more walks than strikeouts in the last two months of 2004 amid speculation that he was hiding an arm injury, was signed to a four-year, $33 million deal. Either player would have been a good risk on a one-year contract for a contending team; for a 111-loss team to make such commitments to players of questionable health is unbelievable.

The Yankees’ bizarre weekend makes even less sense. Apparently, they committed to sign Jaret Wright, possibly because they wanted him on their team and possibly because they wanted to light a fire under their real target, Carl Pavano. Upon learning that Pavano was ready to sign with them, the Yanks tried to get out of the Wright deal, possibly because they never had any intention of consummating it if Pavano agreed to come to the Bronx, possibly because they panicked and realized that they were making a three-year commitment to a pitcher with a sketchy history and a reputation as a head case, and possibly because Wright failed a physical. Saturday, Wright took another physical, which he reportedly passed; this left it unclear if the Yankees would end up with Pavano, Wright, both, or neither.

Leaving aside the utterly chaotic state of management that could lead to such an embarrassing and unprofessional scenario, the Yankees would have to be out of their gourds to give Pavano the four-year, $44 million contract he is reportedly seeking. Pavano is every bit as much a risk as Wright, if not more so. He has a checkered medical history, a weak track record, and one season as a top starter – in which he played half his games in a strong pitcher’s park in front of an excellent defense and still posted statistics suggesting that his 18-8 record and 3.00 ERA were castles built of sand.

Of course, signing players with uncertain futures to outlandish contracts has been a Yankee specialty for years. Should the proposed deal go through, at least the team’s boosters can be glad that the Yankees have signed a free agent who doesn’t walk with a cane.

The only reason I wouldn’t hand the tallest dunce cap to Oakland GM Billy Beane is that the trade of ace Tim Hudson to Los Angeles for prospect Edwin Jackson and suspect Antonio Perez is still just a rumor, although Hudson’s agent seems to think it’s a done deal. But if the trade does go through, it would serve as definitive evidence that Beane has either lost it (possibly last spring when his factotum, Paul DePodesta, left Oakland for L.A.) or that he never had it to begin with.

Jackson is a fine prospect, though hardly a sure thing. What makes this trade insane is the prospect that Beane couldn’t get more for a 29-year-old ace with a lifetime 92-39 record, a 3.30 ERA, a reputation as a team leader, and a contract paying him a reasonable $6.5 million this season. The Phillies, for instance, have three young pitchers roughly as valuable as Jackson and a young first baseman, Ryan Howard, who hit 46 home runs in Triple-A last year and is blocked by Jim Thome. Is it really possible that the free-spending Phillies couldn’t come up with a better offer for a legitimate ace?

Even assuming extenuating circumstances, such as penurious owner Steve Schott forcing Beane to trade Hudson, the notion that Jackson was the best Beane could get for Hudson is as laughable as the notion that Victor Zambrano was the best the Mets could get for Scott Kazmir. A few weeks ago I wrote a column wondering if Beane was losing his status as a premier GM; should this trade go through, I think that question would be answered. To make the worst move on a weekend that included the Glaus and Ortiz signings and the Wright/Pavano debacle is a rare achievement indeed.