Sources: Green Trade Is in Jeopardy

Shawn Green’s negotiations with the Arizona Diamondbacks to waive his no-trade clause are in serious jeopardy, sources said Wednesday night, and the slugger could end up playing for the Dodgers despite their best efforts to trade him.

Despite the uncertainty regarding Green, the Dodgers completed a deal for left-handed starter Odalis Perez, contingent on a physical Friday.

Perez, a Dodger the last three seasons before becoming a free agent this off-season, will re-sign for three years and $24 million. The Dodgers will pay him slightly more than they had budgeted because they were unsure whether he had strong bids from other teams.

Green, meanwhile, has until 9 a.m. today to waive his no-trade clause and agree to a trade to the Diamondbacks unless the negotiating period is extended by an agreement from the Dodgers, Diamondbacks and commissioner’s office. The 32-year-old right fielder-first baseman is owed $16 million in the final year of a six-year, $84-million deal he signed after coming to the Dodgers before the 2000 season.

The trade would send Green and $8 million to the Diamondbacks for minor league catcher Dioner Navarro and minor league pitcher William Juarez. Green has expressed a willingness to waive the no-trade clause in exchange for an extension, but so far he and the Diamondbacks are not close to an agreement.

Sources said the Diamondbacks have offered to extend his contract two years for $18 million. Green has asked for an extension of three years for a substantially greater average annual value.

Should an agreement fail to be reached, he would play out his current contract with the Dodgers unless he and the Diamondbacks agreed to complete the trade without an extension, an unlikely scenario.

A return to the Dodgers would create a logjam. The Dodgers would like to give the inexpensive and relatively unproven Hee-Seop Choi a chance to play every day at first base. Free agent J.D. Drew was signed for five years to play right or center field, with Milton Bradley playing the other position.

Green probably would play first, relegating Choi to the bench. But the Dodger payroll would balloon to about $90 million with holes remaining in the starting rotation and at catcher.

The Dodgers are in serious negotiations with free-agent starting pitcher Esteban Loaiza, a source said, but signing him is probably contingent on Green going to Arizona.

As for Perez, the physical could be more than perfunctory because he is rumored to be experiencing weight problems. He is 34-28 with the Dodgers and was 7-6 and received little run support last season, when his 3.25 earned-run average was the best among Dodger starters.