BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Strawberry Wonders About a Trade

This time last year, the question would have been unthinkable. But Sunday afternoon, Darryl Strawberry was asking it.

“Do you think the Dodgers are going to trade me?” he said.

Strawberry said he has been hearing trade rumors about himself for the first time in his career.

While he said he emphasized that he doesn’t want to leave the Dodgers, he said nothing would surprise him.

“I know they are going to be rebuilding this team, so they may not want me around,” he said. “If that is the case, well, somebody is going to be getting a 30-home run, 100-RBI guy.”

The idea that Fred Claire would trade Strawberry this winter is absurd, for two reasons.

First, he probably can’t trade Strawberry because of a back injury and three years left on a $20.25 million contract.

Second, the Dodgers probably will rebuild around Strawberry.

He has not been the most loved man in the clubhouse this summer, with his teammates forced to endure the constant attention and controversy that surrounds him without benefiting from any production.

But when he is right, as in the second half of 1991, the Dodgers realize how much they still need him.

Strawberry said he is scheduled to fly to Los Angeles from San Francisco this morning to meet with Dr. Robert Watkins, a back specialist, to discuss his options of rehabilitation or surgery.

Strawberry will remain in Los Angeles to clear up some personal business, and rejoin the team Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

From last Monday through Sunday, Brett Butler had 13 hits in 21 at-bats, a .619 clip. He had two doubles, a triple, a home run and eight runs batted in.

He also had eight stolen bases in seven games, more than in his previous 27 games combined. Butler ranks among the league leaders in batting average (.305), walks (58) and stolen bases (26).

While his move to the No. 2 spot in the batting order is credited for his surge, Butler has other ideas.

“Somebody once wrote an article about me being old,” he said. “That could have sparked it a little bit.”

Since being given the full-time job at third base for the first time this season, Dave Hansen has one hit in 10 at-bats, a home run. “The hardest thing about this year is keeping my head on straight, that’s what I need to do now,” said Hansen, who is essentially being given a tryout for next season. . . . While pitching has not been the Dodgers’ problem, it has not been good by Dodger standards. They are on a pace to have their fourth-worst earned-run average in the last 22 years (3.41) while leading the league in walks (356) and wild pitches (40). They have issued a league-high 62 intentional walks, 10 more than the second-place team.