BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Union Considers Filing Grievances for Butler, Davis

The Major League Players Assn. is considering filing grievances against the Dodgers and Angels in behalf of Brett Butler and Chili Davis, union chief Don Fehr said Monday.

The Dodgers offered Butler a one-year, $3.5-million contract in January, then told him a week before the strike ended that the offer was off the table. Agents Tom Reich and Adam Katz negotiated a three-year contract for about $11.25 million for Davis, but the Angels announced last week that it no longer existed.

“I don’t want to talk too much about it, but Chili Davis’ deal, that was done and on paper,” Fehr said. “We also had some discussions with Brett Butler, and we’ll see what he decides.”

Fehr, who addressed the Dodger players in a meeting Monday night at Vero Beach, Fla., also chastised Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda for his conduct during the strike.

“He was both vocal (in praising his replacement team) and, as far as I can tell, alone,” Fehr said. “And I’m perplexed about it.

“The sole purpose of the replacement players was to put pressure on his players. He did what he did, and the fact that he was the only one who did it speaks for itself.”

Lasorda was privately criticized by several of his players during the strike, which was confirmed by former Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser when he said that the union had asked managers to remain neutral, but “the guy in Dodgertown has not been.”

“It’s a perplexing one,” said Fehr, who plans to discuss the matter with Lasorda.

Lasorda could not be reached for immediate comment. He was in Boynton Beach to pay his respects to former Dodger coach Ron Perranoski, whose father, Peter Perranoski, died Friday.

Two weeks ago, Lasorda told The Times: “You going to criticize me for being loyal, dedicated and for loving my job? Come on, I’m not going to apologize for that. I have never, ever said that these guys will take the place of my real players.”

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The Dodgers signed veteran left-handed reliever Rob Murphy to a triple-A contract that will pay him $250,000 if he makes the team. Murphy, 34, who is joining his seventh team in eight years, is expected to be at least one of two left-handed relievers opening the season with the Dodgers.

“Murphy has been a workhorse,” Lasorda said. “I remember him in Cincinnati, and they just wore that guy down. They worked him to death. A guy can only stand so much.”

Murphy was 4-3 with two saves and a 4.29 earned-run average in 53 games last season with the St. Louis Cardinals and New York Yankees.

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Butler, who got contract offers Monday for about $1.6 million from the New York Mets and about $1.2 million from the Baltimore Orioles, said his union views might have played a part in his departure from the Dodgers.

“I understand the economics but I also understand the politics and how this has played a role in all of this,” he said. “I’m a man of my word, and have always been up front with people, but it seems like it’s being used against me now.”

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The Dodgers and agent Jim Bronner will wait until they exchange arbitration figures on April 28 before negotiating a one-year contract for pitcher Ramon Martinez. . . . The Dodgers still are more than $200,000 apart in negotiations with attorney Jeff Moorad on a one-year contract for outfielder Raul Mondesi, last year’s National League rookie of the year. Fred Claire, executive vice president, said he will renew the contracts of all unsigned players by Wednesday night.

Second baseman Delino DeShields talked with former basketball coach Rollie Massimino for the first time since he turned down a basketball scholarship to Villanova in 1987. “He told me that he thought I was making a mistake at the time,” DeShields said. “Now he says, ‘Hey, it looks like you made the right decision. I never knew you could play baseball like that.’ ” . . . The Dodgers signed seven players to one-year contracts, among them right fielder Todd Hollandsworth and relief pitcher Antonio Osuna for $109,000, the major league minimum. Other signed players, who are expected to open the season in the minors, are pitchers Roberto Duran and Jesus Martinez, and infielders Miguel Cairo, Juan Castro and Willie Otanez.