Dodgers Pull Off a Big One: Rodriguez for Expos’ Kelly : Baseball: L.A. also gets reliever Eischen and gives up Treadway in deal that has Butler asking questions.

The Dodgers, acknowledging they might have erred by not re-signing center fielder Brett Butler but not about to let the transgression ruin their playoff hopes, pulled off baseball’s biggest trade of the season.

They acquired all-star center fielder Roberto Kelly and rookie left-handed reliever Joey Eischen from the Montreal Expos Tuesday for right fielder Henry Rodriguez and infielder Jeff Treadway.

“They could have saved themselves a whole lot of trouble by just keeping me, couldn’t they?” said Butler, whose $3.5-million contract offer was pulled in April. “I guess I’m not too good at understanding.”

Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, knew he was taking a gamble when the team did not re-sign Butler in April. But after watching his club lose six consecutive games and drop to last place in the National League West, this was no time to permit egos to get in the way.

“I still believe we went in the right direction at the time,” Claire said. “But who knows who will do what once the season starts? I just knew what we had to do now.

“I didn’t like the way we were looking.”

Claire believed that something drastic needed to be done, and after watching his team score three or fewer runs in five of their last six games, he telephoned Expo General Manager Kevin Malone on Monday.

“I said, ‘How you doing?’ ” Claire said. “He said, ‘Not very well. We just got swept by Houston.’

“He said, ‘How you doing?’ I said, ‘Not every well, either. We just got swept by Chicago.”’

They began chatting, and when Claire awoke at his home at 5:30 Tuesday morning, he telephoned Malone and consummated the Dodgers’ biggest trade in four years--when they acquired center fielder Eric Davis and pitcher Kip Gross from Cincinnati for pitchers John Wetteland and Tim Belcher.

“It improves us tremendously,” Claire said. “We’re a much better team today than we were yesterday.”

The Dodgers were ecstatic with the trade, saying they can’t believe they were able to pull off such a deal without surrendering much more. Although Kelly will not bat leadoff, he gives them speed at the top of the lineup, and Eischen gives them another left-hander in the bullpen.

The Dodgers considered Rodriguez, 27, little more than a third or fourth outfielder who didn’t fit into their plans after this season. And they’ve been trying to dump Treadway all spring, but couldn’t find anyone willing to pay his $500,000 salary.

Although Kelly is earning $3.4 million in the final year of his three-year, $10.5-million contract, the Expos and the Atlanta Braves are paying all but $1.5 million of his contract. This leaves the Dodgers an additional expense of only about $700,000, Claire said, because of the $710,000 combined salaries of Treadway and Rodriguez.

Just like that, the Dodgers have a drastically improved defensive outfield with Kelly in center and Raul Mondesi back in right, and a lineup so deep that first baseman Eric Karros could be batting sixth, and Tim Wallach seventh, upon the return of injured catcher Mike Piazza.

“I’ve always liked Kelly,” Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda said. “I think we’ll be better offensively, defensively, and have much more speed. I’ve always liked him. I liked him when he was with Cincinnati, the Yankees, Atlanta, and, uh, where else was he?”

This, of course, is where it becomes confusing. How can a player with so much talent, and a good demeanor in the clubhouse, be traded four times in 2 1/2 years?

“If you figure it out, let me know,” Kelly, 31, said. “I’m starting to get used to this. I guess, if nothing else, it lets you know that you’re wanted.”

Kelly, 31, a career .286 hitter who has averaged nine homers and 30 stolen bases the last six years, has been involved in some of the game’s biggest blockbusters. He was traded from Cincinnati to the New York Yankees on Nov. 3, 1992, for outfielder Paul O’Neill and a minor leaguer. He went to the Atlanta Braves on May 29, 1994, in a deal for Deion Sanders. And he was traded along with two teammates April 6 by the Braves to the Expos for all-star Marquis Grissom.

This guy leaves town so quickly that the mailmen can’t keep up with the change-of-address cards. Little wonder he plans to rent when he gets to Los Angeles, particularly considering he’ll be a free agent who probably won’t be back.

“I’ve learned to pack light,” said Kelly, who underwent wrist surgery in November but says he is now sound. “Once you’re traded the first time, the rest aren’t that tough. But this one came as a surprise. I had no idea until the general manager [Malone] came to my apartment.

“I just looked at him, and said, ‘What team?’ ”

The Dodger players were just as stunned. Sure, they know they’ve been struggling. Their defense has been horrendous, and ever since Piazza left the lineup, the offense has sputtered.

Yet, considering the Dodgers have preached their commitment to a youth movement all season, who envisioned they’d pick up an all-star for their stretch drive in May.

“It definitely sends a message to all of us,” Karros said. “They’re telling us that this is not just a developmental season. Management has made a commitment not only to win, but win right now.”

The Expos, who lost first baseman Cliff Floyd for the season last week when he broke his hand, will use Rodriguez at first base. It also allows them to move highly touted Rondell White into center field to replace Kelly.

“The biggest advantage to the trade was that we’re able to play Rondell White every day,” Malone said. “This guy is going to be a superstar, and we needed to make room for him.”

Said Expo Manager Felipe Alou: “We really hated to let Eischen go in the deal. The guy might be a good one. But after you lose guys like Grissom, [John] Wetteland, and [Larry] Walker, you’re not afraid to lose anybody.”

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A Closer Look

Career statistics for outfielders Roberto Kelly and Henry Rodriguez, the two key players in Tuesday’s trade between the Dodgers and Expos. Montreal also received infielder Jeff Treadway while the Dodgers got left-handed pitcher Joey Eischen, who has yet to pitch in the major leagues this season.

ROBERTO KELLY

AB R H HR BI SB Avg 1987 NYY 52 12 14 1 7 9 .269 1988 NYY 77 9 19 1 7 5 .274 1989 NYY 441 65 133 9 48 35 .302 1990 NYY 641 85 183 15 61 42 .285 1991 NYY 486 68 130 20 69 32 .267 1992 NYY 580 81 158 10 66 28 .272 1993 Cin 320 44 102 9 35 21 .319 1994 Cin-Atl 434 73 127 9 45 19 .293 1995 Mon 95 11 26 1 9 4 .274 Total 3126 448 892 75 347 195 .285

HENRY RODRIGUEZ

AB R H HR BI SB Avg 1992 LA 146 11 32 3 14 0 .219 1993 LA 176 20 39 8 23 1 .222 1994 LA 306 33 82 8 49 0 .268 1995 LA 80 6 21 1 10 0 .263 Total 708 70 174 20 96 1 .246