Dodgers Bring Davis Home : Baseball: They trade Belcher and Wetteland to the Reds to acquire outfielder and Kip Gross.

The Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Eric Davis to the Dodgers on Wednesday night as part of a four-player deal that sent right-handers Tim Belcher and John Wetteland to the Reds.

The trade reunites Davis with boyhood friend Darryl Strawberry in the Dodgers’ outfield and solidifies the Reds’ starting rotation. The Dodgers also got left-handed reliever Kip Gross.

Davis, 29, a former Fremont High standout in Los Angeles, played in only 89 games last season, hitting .235 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs.

“I was surprised that it happened,” he said in Atlanta. “You hear rumors, people saying what’s going to happen, but sometimes things never happen. I have mixed emotions.”

Davis has been plagued with injuries throughout his career. He fell out of favor with Red Manager Lou Piniella when he decided to sit out most of the second half of the season because of what Davis called chronic fatigue resulting from his kidney injury in the 1990 World Series.

“I’m happy about going home, but it’s tough leaving the city of Cincinnati,” Davis said. “I have a lot of great memories there. I won a world championship there. Pete Rose gave me my first opportunity. If not for him, I might not be in this situation.”

The Dodgers were one of six teams mentioned in Davis’ contract that the Reds could trade him to without his approval. He spoke with Strawberry shortly after hearing they’d be reunited.

“He was just as ecstatic as I am,” Davis said. “It was a dream we never thought would become reality.”

Davis will be paid $3.1 million in 1991, the final season of a three-year, $9.3 million contract.

“I believe this brings to our ballclub one of the outstanding talents in the game today,” Dodgers general manager Fred Claire said. “When you acquire a talent such as Eric Davis, you also have to give up talent, and we did that in Belcher and Wetteland.”

Since the end of the season, the Reds have rebuilt their starting rotation, acquiring Greg Swindell from the Cleveland Indians and Belcher, 30, who was 10-9 with a 2.62 ERA last season.

Claire said Davis will play left field and Kal Daniels may be moved to first base. Earlier in the day, Eddie Murray left the Dodgers and signed a $7.5 million, two-year free-agent contract with the New York Mets.

“I’ve asked Kal his thoughts about playing first base, what his feeling would be about that,” Claire said. “He said he had worked out a little at first base, he was not opposed to that. Not to say that’s what will happen, we’re a long way from opening day.”

Davis had his best year in 1987, when he hit .293 with 37 homers and 100 RBIs. He hit .273 with 26 homers and 93 RBIs in 1988, .281 with 34 homers and 101 RBIs in 1989, and .260 with 24 homers and 86 RBIs in 1990.

He lacerated a kidney while trying to make a diving catch in Game 4 of the 1990 World Series, another in a long line of injuries in his career. He’s never played more than 135 games in a big-league season.

Claire said Dodger team physician Frank Jobe has talked to the Reds’ club doctor.

“I’m satisfied from those reports and from talking to Eric today that he will be healthy, that he will be happy, that he will be extremely productive in a Dodger uniform,” Claire said.

Gross, 27, was 6-4 with a 3.47 ERA for the Reds last season. He appeared in 29 games, nine as a starter.

Belcher has a 50-38 career record and a 2.99 ERA. As a rookie in 1988, he was 12-6 with a 2.91 ERA. He had his best year the next season, going 15-12 with a 2.82 ERA, eight shutouts and 200 strikeouts.

In 1990, he was 9-9 with a 4.00 ERA. He underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove a piece of torn cartilage in his right shoulder on Sept. 11 that season and said several times this year that he felt no ill effects.

“I have a lot of respect for Fred Claire and the Dodgers, but I told Fred point-blank on the phone that he made mistake,” Belcher said from his home in Mt. Gilead, Ohio. “I think the Reds and Bob Quinn definitely got the best end of this deal given the snapshot view of the division right now.”

Wetteland, 25, was 1-0 and didn’t allow an earned run in nine innings with the Dodgers last season. He spent most of 1991 at Albuquerque of the Pacific Coast League where he went 4-3 with a 2.79 ERA and 20 saves. He is 8-12 in parts of three big-league seasons.

With Strawberry, Daniels, center fielder Brett Butler, catcher Mike Scioscia and infielder Lenny Harris, the Dodgers had been too heavy from the left side last season.

“In acquiring Eric Davis, we accomplished the one thing we wanted to accomplish, adding a strong right-handed bat to our ballclub,” Claire said. “We not only added a right-handed bat, we added tremendous speed to our ballclub. We now have a team that runs very well.”

Strawberry last week urged the Dodgers to trade Daniels, but Claire said he didn’t know if that would happen. And he still must decide whether to re-sign free-agent pitchers Mike Morgan and Orel Hershiser.

“We now have the obligation of restructuring the pitching staff,” Claire said. “Kevin Gross made a number of starts and we feel he can be successful in that role. We do have some young arms coming.”

Among those returning for sure next year in addition to Kevin Gross will be 17-game winner Ramon Martinez and 12-game winner Bob Ojeda.