DODGERS NOTEBOOK: ALVAREZ CONSIDERS RETIRING.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

WASHINGTON - Dodgers general manager Paul DePodesta said Tuesday the strange case of veteran left-hander Wilson Alvarez, who stayed in Los Angeles when the team left town on Sunday, wouldn't be resolved until today at the earliest. Alvarez will probably make another trip to the 15-day disabled list with the same shoulder injury that has plagued him all season.

The issue at hand is whether Alvarez, 35, is ready to call it a career. He told MLB.com earlier this week he will rehabilitate his shoulder and retire after the season, but he apparently begun to have second thoughts by Tuesday.

``Right now, obviously, Wilson has a lot on his mind,'' DePodesta said. ``We're in constant contact with him and trying to help him through it.''

If Alvarez goes on the DL, the Dodgers will recall reliever Franquelis Osoria from Triple-A Las Vegas, a move that would give them an all right-handed bullpen. If Alvarez retires, he will forfeit the remainder of his two-year, $4 million contract, including all of his $2 million salary for next season.

Alvarez approached manager Jim Tracy after Sunday's loss to St. Louis - a game in which Alvarez retired just one of three batters, issued a walk and gave up a decisive, two-run homer to Jim Edmonds - to tell him the recurrent soreness in his shoulder had returned.

--Weaver talks stall: It appears unlikely now that the Dodgers will reach agreement on a new contract with right-hander Jeff Weaver before the season ends, which means Weaver probably will become a free agent. DePodesta said talks with Weaver's agent, Scott Boras, have been on-going for four weeks and will continue.

``If we don't come to some sort of agreement during the season, it certainly doesn't mean we can't come to an agreement over the winter,'' DePodesta said.

Weaver has a $9.35 million salary in this final season of a four-year, $22.1 million deal he got from Detroit.

Tony Jackson, [phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com