DODGERS NOTEBOOK: ALVAREZ DENIES CANSECO CLAIM.

Byline: Tony Jackson  Staff Writer

VERO BEACH, Fla. - Dodgers pitcher Wilson Alvarez said Friday he briefly considered a lawsuit after the release of Jose Canseco's highly publicized book, which accuses Alvarez and several other current and former major-leaguers of using steroids.

``I'll just let it go,'' Alvarez said after reporting to Dodgertown, where pitchers and catchers today will hold their first workout of the spring. ``I just want to play ball. I thought about suing, but, nah, why waste time with that stuff?

``If I do it, he wins. ... My family, my kids and the people who know me, they know I don't do that stuff. People can believe what they want to believe. This is a free country, and they can say whatever they want.''

Canseco claims in ``Juiced: Wild Times, Rampant 'Roids, Smash Hits and How Baseball Got Big'' that he personally injected Alvarez when they were teammates with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1999 and part of 2000. Alvarez, like many of the players Canseco names in the book, emphatically denies the charge.

``Never, ever in my life,'' said Alvarez, whose 6-foot-1, 255-pound physique is far from chiseled. ``Just look at me. Does it look like I took steroids?''

Alvarez also said he and Canseco were not close while with the Devil Rays. Alvarez missed the 2000 season after rotator-cuff surgery. Canseco was waived during that season and claimed by the New York Yankees.

``I never spent time with him,'' Alvarez said. ``He became what he is because of baseball, and he owes the game so much. But he wants to destroy the game overnight, and that's not right.''

--Long shot: When the Dodgers finally landed coveted prospect Dioner Navarro in what effectively was a three-team trade with the Yankees and Arizona last month, club officials made it clear he was their catcher of the future.

Despite their every insistence that Navarro will be given a chance to make the team out of camp, it appears unlikely he is the Dodgers catcher of the present. He turned 21 10 days ago and has spent only half a season at the Triple-A level.

Dodgers manager Jim Tracy admitted Friday that Navarro is the longest of long shots this year, especially with defensive standouts Paul Bako and David Ross ready to share the position.

``I think it's a little bit of a reach,'' Tracy said. ``But I don't want the kid to see (today's newspaper) clips and say, `I don't have a chance to make this team.' I'm not going to rule anything out.''

--Lasorda promoted: Tommy Lasorda, Hall of Fame manager and senior vice president with the Dodgers, was given the title Friday of special adviser to Dodgers chairman Frank McCourt. It is the most obvious sign that McCourt, who bought the club a year ago, appreciates not only Lasorda's gregarious personality and charisma, but also his insight.

That is something Lasorda says was missing during the five-plus years of the NewsCorp regime.

``This (promotion) is quite a thing for (McCourt) to do,'' said Lasorda, who will continue to wear a uniform in spring training and have input into baseball operations. ``It makes me feel like I'm really welcome, and I haven't felt like that for a long time. I'm going to be doing a lot of things for him, things he has been doing himself but shouldn't have to do. I really appreciate everything that he has done for me.''

Tony Jackson,[phone]

tony.jackson(at)dailynews.com

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WILSON ALVAREZ

Dodgers pitcher thought briefly about suing Jose Canseco, who claimed Alvarez used steroids in his book.