BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Strawberry Says He’s Ready

Darryl Strawberry, talking to reporters on the opening day of training camp at Vero Beach, Fla., looked up to see a group of players from Japan’s Waseda University approaching the batting cages.

“There’s my new team,” he joked.

Because of the controversy surrounding Strawberry off the field, there has been speculation that the Dodgers might try to trade him this spring. But Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, said Friday that if Strawberry is productive, he will stay.

“If he hits 20 home runs or more and drives in 100 runs or more, I’m not willing to let that pass,” Claire said. “I have nothing but positive thoughts about it. He has worked hard, he is swinging well and he is highly motivated. If he isn’t motivated now, I don’t know when he would be.”

There remain some unresolved issues that could affect Strawberry, including an ongoing investigation by the IRS of allegedly non-reported income from baseball card shows. But Claire said he is not expecting bad news, although he is willing to react to it.

Strawberry said he is physically sound and would like to finish his career in Los Angeles.

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Pitcher Ramon Martinez was the only no-show, and Claire wasn’t happy about it. When he found out that Martinez wasn’t here, he called the club’s baseball academy in the Dominican Republic and discovered him there, preparing to pitch in an intrasquad game.

“He said he felt fine and was in a good frame of mind, which is better than what I was in,” Claire said. “I told him I was glad he felt good, but I thought it would be in his best interest if he were here feeling good.”

Martinez, who hadn’t bothered to tell the club he wasn’t coming, told Claire he had some personal business to handle and would arrive Monday.

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Jim Gott, who had 25 saves and a 2.32 earned-run average while filling in for closer Todd Worrell last season, came to camp ready to challenge for the position.

“The bottom line is the team, but I think it is ridiculous that the subject hasn’t been brought up,” Gott said. “I love that job, and in three of my 10 years I have proved I can do it. I think it’s a nice problem for (Manager) Tom (Lasorda) to have.”

The job, though, is Worrell’s to lose, Lasorda said.