BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Decision Looms: Mondesi or Butler?

Before the Dodgers broke training camp, Brett Butler took Raul Mondesi aside and told him if Mondesi becoming the next center fielder was best for the team, then Butler would do everything he could to help him get there.

Butler’s $10-million, three-year contract expires at the end of this season, and the Dodgers have the option for a fourth year at $3 million.

“I told Raul that if I have a good year and he has a good year, then the Dodgers have to make a decision,” Butler said. “I told him if I do bad and he does well, there is no decision, and it works the other way around. My point to him was that he has to do the best he can do, and if it’s meant to be for me to be back, then I will be.”

Butler, who is batting .302 and hasn’t made an error since June 13, 1992, said Dodger Executive Vice President Fred Claire has not talked with him about his contract. Butler’s batting average has fallen below .300 only twice since May 21.

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Los Angeles Police Dept. detectives were in the clubhouse before Thursday’s game, investigating some stolen uniforms. On Saturday, a couple of youngsters with about nine or 10 uniforms had jumped a fence to get into the players’ parking lot, hoping to get the uniforms signed. The children were apprehended and the uniforms confiscated, but detectives believe the children were hired by the thieves.

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Eric Davis, who was asked by President Clinton to serve on Clinton’s National Summer of Service program, will take part today in the Wild West Days at the YWCA Angeles Mesa, a day fair for 85 children sponsored by the YWCA and supported by the Community Youth Gang Services and South Central Youth and Community Services.

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Orel Hershiser was impressed with a fan letter he received from Ninajagu, a 17-year-old girl from Nigeria. “This is the farthest place that a fan has written me from,” he said.

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Injury report: Mitch Webster, who has been available to pinch-hit only the last few games because he hurt his right knee Monday night, said it was fine Thursday. Webster, who has never had any problems with his knees, said something “twixed” in his knee when he ran to third base in Monday’s night’s game, leaving it feeling weak. . . . The weakness that infrequently appears in Rick Trlicek’s right forearm might be carpal tunnel syndrome, according to Dodger trainer Bill Buhler. Trlicek, who experienced weakness in his forearm after pitching five innings during a game in Philadelphia July 7 and again after pitching two innings Tuesday, is receiving hot and cold treatments and taking anti-inflammatory medication. . . . Darryl Strawberry said he is making progress in rehabilitating his back and will play baseball somewhere this year, whether it will be with the Dodgers or in postseason in winter ball. “When I come back, I will shut everyone up, all the critics and the people who call in and criticize me,” he said. “I will get the last laugh.” . . . Met Vince Coleman was a late scratch from the game with flu. . . . Howard Johnson broke his right thumb trying to steal second base in the first inning and was put on the 15-day disabled list.