White Is the Latest With Status Woes : Dodgers: Outfielder wants to know where he stands with Johnson, who is surprised by outburst.

Add Devon White to the long list of confused Dodgers who want answers about their standing on the team.

The center fielder told The Times on Friday that he has been frustrated by how Manager Davey Johnson has used him recently, saying he no longer knows whether he has a role on the club. Before an 8-6 afternoon victory over the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, White became the latest Dodger to speak out publicly about an individual situation.

“I really don’t know what’s happening from one day to the next,” said White, who started and went hitless in four at-bats against the Cubs. “I talk to Davey and I really don’t know what’s going on.

“I don’t know if I’m going to be in the lineup tomorrow, out of the lineup or what. All I’m saying is that I don’t know where I stand around here, and after playing this game as long as I have, that’s very difficult. A man wants to know where he stands.”

White said Johnson’s decisions have created the perception that he no longer is capable of playing--or willing to play--regularly because he is 36, making White, in his mind, one of the scapegoats for the Dodgers’ disastrous season. The 13-year veteran and three-time all-star said he plans to discuss his status with General Manager Kevin Malone.

White added that he shouldn’t be on the roster if team officials don’t believe he’s still good enough to be a starter.

Just another day in Dodgerland, where off-field turmoil is the only constant.

Johnson expressed concern when informed of White’s comments.

“I’m dumbfounded, especially coming from him,” Johnson said. “Devo . . . he’s done everything I’ve asked him to do. He’s been great for me, so I . . . I just don’t understand this.

“It’s been a tough year for everybody, so I try to chalk it up to that when this happens.”

But Johnson said he has to run things his way.

“I have to be able to play my young guys off the bench; I have to be able to give guys opportunities to see what we have,” he said. “Regardless of what anybody feels, I have to do what I think is in the best interest of this ballclub. Devo is a big part of this team, and I’ve been very supportive of Devo.

“I know that Devo wants to be out there, but there are things we have to find out about other people. Otherwise, they don’t need a manager here, they just need someone to write down the players’ names based on who makes the most money. That’s not me.”

Some players have asked to be traded while publicly and privately voicing concerns about Johnson in meetings and phone conversations with Malone, but White stressed that he isn’t issuing an ultimatum. He said he simply wants to know what’s going on.

Malone, traveling with the team on the trip, declined to address White’s situation. The player-personnel boss has been caught in the middle of many disagreements between Johnson and players, and he’s apparently fed up with playing peacemaker.

Malone has received many complaints about Johnson’s supposed lack of communication, making Chavez Ravine a very unhappy place. White’s action Friday underscores a key question about the future of this franchise: Do the high-priced Dodgers have to accept how Johnson operates, or is it the other way around?

White is making $2.5 million in the first year of a four-year deal that could be worth as much as $17 million if the Dodgers exercise a club option. His salary increases to $4 million next season, $5 million in 2001 and $5.5 million in 2002, his option year, which the Dodgers can buy out for $900,000.

The seven-time Gold Glove Award winner has played in 108 of the Dodgers’ 134 games. He is batting .264 with 10 homers, 17 doubles, 54 runs batted in and 15 stolen bases. But he has only six hits in his last 56 at-bats.

Although White sat out games earlier this season because of nagging injuries, he said injuries aren’t keeping him out of the lineup these days. White contends that some in the media have unfairly criticized him because Johnson has chosen to play him less than he would prefer.

“It’s being put out there [by the media] that I’m old and fragile, it’s being put out there that I can’t play [regularly] anymore, and that’s just not the truth,” White said. “They [team officials] told me that they wanted to give Holly [Todd Hollandsworth] a chance to play to see what he can do, and that’s fine. But then don’t use me as the scapegoat. Don’t make the public look at me like I can’t play anymore because I’m old. . . .

“However they want to use me, fine, just let me know. After that [if he’s not in the Dodgers’ plans as a starting player], then I can make a decision from there [about his future]. . . .

“Nobody in this organization is telling me anything, and I’m in the first year of a [four-year] deal. Why ever sign me if they didn’t think I could still play?”