Butler Signs; Dodgers Eye Weiss, Gagne

The Dodgers re-signed free agent outfielder Brett Butler to a one-year contract Thursday, for $2 million, and confirmed that free-agent shortstops Walt Weiss and Greg Gagne have emerged as strong candidates to replace Jose Offerman in 1996.

The Dodgers will start spring training with Todd Hollandsworth in left field, Butler in center and Raul Mondesi in right.

“We wouldn’t sign him to this contract if we didn’t think he’d be the starting center fielder,” Executive Vice President Fred Claire said of Butler.

Of the shortstop situation, Claire said: “We’re interested in Weiss [who played last season at Colorado] and we’re interested in Gagne [who was at Kansas City]. I wouldn’t rule either out and I wouldn’t say one or the other is No. 1 or No. 2 in our thinking.

“In all likelihood we’ll have a new shortstop next year. Our former shortstop knows it. Everyone in baseball knows it. There was some interest shown in Offerman at the World Series, but whether that translates into a trade is difficult to predict.”

Even if Offerman is not traded, the Dodgers seem prepared to let the erratic shortstop leave in December as a non-tendered free agent, if they have a replacement.