The Dodgers gutted the roster with the departure of 15 free agents over the winter. Manager Joe Torre didn’t make a linkage, but he likes this year’s clubhouse better than last year’s.

“Overall, there seems to be a lighter mood in the clubhouse,” he said. “It could be my imagination. It just seems everybody is having a little more fun.”

Torre joined the fun during the speech he made before the first full-squad workout with a joke about clubhouse confidentiality that made reference to his best-selling book, “The Yankee Years.” Among the criticisms that Torre has fended off since the release of the book was that it would negatively impact his relationship with his current club.

Among those who also addressed that first meeting was club vice chairman and president Jamie McCourt.

Torre also conceded Thursday that he overworked reliever Cory Wade during a stretch last August that left the right-hander on the disabled list with shoulder inflammation. Wade is already sidelined again with irritation in the same location. — Ken Gurnick