BASEBALL / DAILY REPORT : DODGERS : Deal for Butler Might Be Close

The Dodgers, hoping to rectify a mistake they made last spring, have intensified their negotiations with the New York Mets in an attempt to reacquire center fielder Brett Butler.

Sources close to the negotiations believe that a deal could be consummated by this weekend. Yet Fred Claire, Dodger executive vice president, and Joe McIlvaine, vice president of the Mets, refused to divulge whether a deal could be completed quickly.

The Mets, according to a source, have been given a list of prospects that the Dodgers would be willing to part with and currently are scouting those players in triple-A Albuquerque and double-A San Antonio.

“That would really be beautiful if we could get him back,” Dodger first baseman Eric Karros said. “Obviously, he’s a proven veteran who has plenty of experience in pennant races.

“If it happens, great, but if it doesn’t, hey, I still think we’re in good shape.”

Said pitcher Tom Candiotti: “If we do it, I hope we get it done before the weekend so we don’t have to face him.”

Butler, who spent the last four years with the Dodgers, is expected to return to the Mets’ lineup tonight after sitting out the last week because of the death of his mother.

Butler was scheduled to rejoin the Dodgers this season, but the Dodgers pulled a one-year, $3.5-million offer off the table in March, and he signed with the Mets.

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Third baseman Tim Wallach shelled out $140 for a sushi lunch for three Thursday when he paid off his bet to Manager Tom Lasorda and pitcher Hideo Nomo.

Lasorda bet Wallach that Nomo would get his first major league hit July 15 against the Florida Marlins after going hitless in his first 32 at-bats. Nomo went hitless in his first two at-bats that game, then singled in the seventh inning off Bobby Witt.

“Hideo and I ate a lot of raw fish,” Lasorda said. “We really put the big hurt on him. Hideo and I cleaned him out.”

Said Wallach: “Hey, at least it was for a good cause.”

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Lasorda, who said that Nomo brought the Japanese restaurant to a standstill by his presence, continues to be overwhelmed himself.

“You stop and think what this guy’s been through,” Lasorda said, “and it’s just incredible. Here’s a guy who technically defected from their baseball program and now he’s a hero over there.

“The most significant part is that for 30 years the Japanese didn’t know how their players compared to ours. What he’s done has been a big boost to their baseball program.

“I guarantee you, not too many more guys will be coming over here. The next contracts they give out won’t have that [retirement] loophole.”