Hundley Will Start on Disabled List

Reserve catcher Todd Hundley will sit out spring training and begin the season on the disabled list because of recurring back problems, the Dodgers said Tuesday.

“Is it likely that he has a chance to start the season with us? It’s safe to say that probably won’t happen,” Manager Jim Tracy said. “It’s not going to happen.”

Hundley had surgery Nov. 25 to repair a small disk he herniated after initially undergoing surgery for the problem June 5. He subsequently experienced back pain and was instructed to suspend his rehab program.

Specialist Robert Watkins, who examined Hundley on Monday, plans to give the switch-hitter another series of cortisone injections because of back and hip soreness.

Watkins will then monitor Hundley for at least a week before determining whether Hundley should resume his rehab program.

Hundley was sidelined most of last season because of his back problem, playing in 21 games. He batted .182 with two home runs and 11 runs batted in during his second stint with the Dodgers after being reacquired from the Chicago Cubs for first baseman Eric Karros and second baseman Mark Grudzielanek.

Hundley, 34, is guaranteed $6.5 million this season.

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Right fielder Shawn Green probably won’t open the season at first base unless the club acquires an All-Star caliber outfielder.

Green is scheduled to start at first in today’s Grapefruit League opener against the New York Mets, but some in the organization doubt Green will become a full-time first baseman because of his reluctance to make the switch and how the situation might affect his performance at the plate.

Green, team sources said, was willing to change positions only if the Dodgers signed Vladimir Guerrero or another major run-producer.

“I’m just there to kind of learn the position and be prepared,” Green said. “I’m expecting to play both [positions] this spring.”

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Norihiro Nakamura, a star third baseman in Japan, is working out at Dodgertown and might play in the major leagues next season.

Nakamura is with the Dodgers while rehabilitating from off-season knee surgery. The Dodgers have a working agreement with the Osaka Buffaloes, for whom Nakamura has played his entire 12-year career.

Nakamura was close to joining the New York Mets last season but backed away because word of the deal emerged in the United States and Japan before he had a chance to inform the Buffaloes and another Japanese club interested in signing him.

“It wasn’t the fact that I couldn’t go and play with the Mets,” Nakamura said through an interpreter. “It was more of the fact that I didn’t want to leave Japan on bad terms.”

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As expected, the Dodgers informed Jose Canseco that they weren’t interested in his services. Canseco, 39, participated in an open tryout with the team Monday. Matt Slater, the team’s director of professional scouting, said two of the 108 players who participated in the workout would be offered contracts: Adam Shorts, an infielder who played in the Yankee farm system last season, and Gooby Gerlits, a catcher-outfielder who has spent time in the Marlin system.