Latest Penalty Isn’t Fine With Perez

DENVER -- Odalis Perez remained defiant Friday after being disciplined for the second time this season because of his conduct with umpires, saying he would continue to challenge umpires who “don’t do the right things.”

Bob Watson, baseball’s administrator in charge of on-field discipline, on Wednesday fined the emotional left-hander $600 for berating an umpire after being ejected June 24 from a 2-1 loss to the San Francisco Giants at Pacific Bell Park.

Watson also fined Perez -- tossed twice in a three-start span -- $400 for being ejected and arguing with an umpire June 13 at Cleveland. Because Perez is in the process of appealing both rulings, Watson declined to comment about the situation.

As usual, Perez spoke his mind.

“They know they have to do a good job,” Perez said of umpires. “I don’t want to get mad for every call they make, but if they don’t want me to act like that, they have to do the right things.

“If they make the right calls, I’m not going to have problems with that. But if they do it wrong.... The first time, they fined me $400, and this time they fined me $600. I don’t see a difference between the two incidents.”

Perez, whom the Dodgers have counseled on controlling his emotions, also has been dealing with the possibility of being traded again.

The Dodgers recently backed away from a deal that would have sent Perez to the Boston Red Sox and brought outfielder Trot Nixon to Los Angeles, baseball executives said, and Perez might be the centerpiece of a multiplayer deal for Pittsburgh Pirate outfielder Brian Giles.

“The only thing I know is, I don’t want to go anywhere, I want to stay here,” said Perez, 6-7 with a 4.25 earned-run average.

“I came to L.A. to win a championship in L.A. I came from a team where it felt like home, and that was the [Atlanta] Braves. They traded me here, and now this is my home. This is my place.”

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The Dodgers put reserve infielder Ron Coomer on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to July 8) because of an undiagnosed joint problem within his jaw, and recalled infielder/outfielder Chin-Feng Chen from triple-A Las Vegas to fill the opening on the 25-man roster.

Coomer, who team trainer Stan Johnston said has been suffering from headaches and blurriness in his right eye, left the team to meet with a specialist in Minneapolis, and probably won’t rejoin the Dodgers until after the All-Star break, Johnston said.

The eight-year veteran has undergone a battery of tests and been examined by an ophthalmologist, which enabled the team to “rule out brain tumors and glaucoma,” Johnston said.

Chen, 25, batted .296 with 13 home runs and 54 runs batted in for the 51s.

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Left fielder Brian Jordan underwent season-ending knee surgery in Vail, Colo. Specialist Richard Steadman performed the procedure to reattach Jordan’s strained left knee tendon to the bone.... Utility player Jolbert Cabrera was unavailable for Friday’s game because of a stomach virus, Manager Jim Tracy said.