BASEBALL DAILY REPORT : Butler Seeking a Brighter Tomorrow

It was the most tumultuous year of center fielder Brett Butler’s illustrious career, one that started like a bad nightmare, only to get worse.

He was offered a $3.5-million contract by the Dodgers, only to have the offer withdrawn. He signed with the New York Mets, only to be traded back to the Dodgers. He was a hero returning home to Los Angeles, only to be a villain when he acted as the spokesman expressing his teammates’ views on replacement player Mike Busch. His mother died in August, his grandmother this winter.

“It was the worst year of my life,” Butler said Wednesday. “It was like one, long bad dream. This winter has been a healing process, and now I can move forward.

“If this is my last year in L.A.--and let’s not fool ourselves, it likely is--I’d like to walk away with a World Series championship.”

Butler signed a one-year, $2-million contract for 1996.

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The Dodgers have offered pitcher Hideo Nomo a series of one-, two- and three-year contract proposals, including a three-year deal for about $4 million, according to sources familiar with the negotiations. They have also offered All-Star right fielder Raul Mondesi a three-year contract for about $6 million, sources said.