Randolph Laughs at Trade Talk : Dodgers: Second baseman knows Samuel is there, but figures the worst is behind him.

Being a former New York Yankee means never wanting to be taken by surprise. So when Willie Randolph phoned Fred Claire in early January, it wasn’t just to wish the Dodger vice president a happy new year.

“After a little bit of chit-chat, I sort of slipped in a question,” Randolph admitted earlier this week. “I told Fred, ‘Well, I’m thinking about signing this lease on this place out in Los Angeles for the summer, and I was just sort of, you know, wondering . . . should I sign it?’ ”

Randolph said Claire didn’t hesitate to answer.

“He told me, ‘As it stands now, go ahead and sign that lease,’ ” Randolph said. “So I flew out there and did.”

Their conversation, as you may have guessed by now, was not about real estate. It was about reality. It is a reality that Randolph has lived with since last Dec. 20, when the Dodgers acquired a center fielder who also happened to be an All-Star second baseman--Juan Samuel.

“Yeah, I hear it all the time,” Randolph said, raising his voice. “ ‘Randolph is getting traded! Randolph is gone tomorrow! The deal is done! A done deal!

“ ‘No question about it, this man is gone, his bags are packed, he’s out the door, he’s history, the trade is being made as we speak, he is gone !’ ”

Randolph finished his monologue, and then did a funny thing. He laughed.

He laughed like a man who has played 1,842 games at second base, more than all but nine players in major league history. He laughed like a man who has played most of those games with the Yankees, where the nicest thing that happens to you is getting traded.

At age 35, in his 16th major league season, Randolph is probably the best player on this team to be “traded” every day during spring training. Because he thinks it’s funny.

“I’ve learned over all the years, you don’t help things by even thinking about this stuff,” Randolph said. “My wife will call me and say, ‘Did you hear where you are going now?’ I will say, ‘Everybody is a general manager, aren’t they?’ And we will crack up.”

It isn’t that Randolph doesn’t know some Dodger officials would like to acquire a “real” center fielder and move Samuel back to second base.

“C’mon, man,” he said, pointing to the locker next to his. “Juan sits right next to me. How can I not notice?”

The way Randolph figures it, there are a couple of reasons not to fret. First, after arriving from the Yankees to the Dodgers as a free agent last year, he figures any other move would be a lark. Particularly since there are other places he is loved.

“Nothing else will be traumatic as what I went through last year,” Randolph said. “If I can adjust to going cross country, I can adjust to anything. And besides, I’ve got friends lots of places.”

Such as Oakland, where Randolph would have signed last season except they were only offering a one-year deal, while the Dodgers were offering two years. And Cincinnati, where Randolph said he has heard from friends that old Yankee buddy Lou Piniella, the Reds’ manager, would like a reunion. There has also been talk about interest from Milwaukee.

Second, Randolph said that because he can still play, he figures he will be happy anywhere.

“If I was declining, I would think more about this, but I’m not,” said Randolph, coming off a .282 season, the fourth-highest average of his career. “I can still play. I can still play well. I can still play somewhere .

“The Dodgers have to do what they have to do. I understand.”

He laughed again.

“Besides, you know how it is today,” he said. “You go to a new team, they will pay expenses to help you move. Help you out of your lease.”

Dodger Notes

Jim Gott pitched Saturday for the second time this spring, in an intrasquad game forced by the rainout of the scheduled game with the New York Mets here. Once again, he struggled, giving up two hits to minor leaguers in two innings. He hit one batter and threw a couple of other balls into the dirt and did not seem much sharper than his first game Thursday, when he threw 11 balls and six strikes in one inning. Gott, however, said he is not yet worried, mostly because his surgically repaired elbow still has no pain. “Yes, I was wilder today, but it was controllable wildness,” Gott said. “The main thing is, I’m pain free.” Gott will pitch three innings Monday against Houston in a split-squad game, after which the Dodgers should have a better idea whether he is physically able to start the season on the roster. If he’s not, one other pitcher made a roster bid in Saturday’s intrasquad game--Mike Maddux allowed one hit in four innings.

The Cleveland Indians have sent a scout to watch Franklin Stubbs, who has asked to be traded. . . . Infielder Glenn Hoffman has been named player/coach for triple-A Albuquerque. . . . Today’s 10:35 p.m. PDT game with the New York Yankees will be broadcast on Channel 11. Fernando Valenzuela and Orel Hershiser will pitch for the Dodgers.