DODGERS NOTEBOOK: IT'S ONE BIG PUSH TO THE BIGS FOR BIGBIE.

Byline: TONY JACKSON 

Staff Writer

VERO BEACH, Fla. -- In the caste system that is the Dodgers' spring- training clubhouse, one end of the room is occupied by the establishment, those well-compensated veterans who have nothing to worry about over the next five weeks except getting themselves ready for Opening Day.

The other end, appropriately the one closest to the exit door, is populated by guys who cross their fingers and hold their breath every time cuts are announced.

That's the area where Larry Bigbie presently finds himself.

Eight years after being drafted in the first round (21st overall) by Baltimore and at a point when he has spent parts of six seasons in the majors, Bigbie finds himself, by his own admission, starting over.

For that, he can thank the hernia that ended his 2006 season four months early, forcing him to watch his St. Louis Cardinals teammates win the World Series without him.

"It's just unfortunate," Bigbie said. "After 2004, I felt like my career was in a pretty good position. Now, I'm pretty much back to square one, where I have to re-establish myself."

It was two springs ago, during his routine physical with the Orioles, that a doctor told Bigbie he had the beginnings of a hernia that needed to be monitored even though he was cleared to play. But Bigbie never really thought about it again, at least not until he returned last May from a broken foot and found that his energy level had plummeted.

The hernia was surgically repaired, after which Bigbie was given a recovery time of eight-to-12 weeks. But when he suddenly felt much better after six weeks, he grabbed a bat and went to the cage. That fateful decision would lead to an abdominal strain, a lost season and a winter of uncertainty before Bigbie finally hooked on with the Dodgers on Jan. 30.

"It set me back a little bit," he said. "If I had waited another month, I could have been ready for the playoffs."

As it is, he isn't entirely sure he is ready for spring training.

Bigbie's minor-league contract with the Dodgers has an escape clause, which he won't exercise unless he receives a major-league offer from another club. But Bigbie says he'll have to play a few Grapefruit League games before knowing if he has fully recovered. If he hasn't, he has no problem completing his comeback at Triple-A LasVegas.

"I just want to get back to doing things the way I used to do them," Bigbie said. "That starts with staying healthy."

Penned in: Dodgers manager Grady Little was asked why veteran Elmer Dessens, who has 135 career starts, isn't part of the long list of candidates for the vacant fifth spot in the rotation. Little gave a political answer, saying he simply had forgotten to mention Dessens when naming the candidates earlier this spring.

But that was a dubious explanation at best. The fact is, Dessens' only shot at the job is for all of the other seven candidates to fail miserably.

Barring that, the right-hander will return to the unglamorous middle relief role he had all last season, when he made a combined 62 appearances and posted a 4.56 ERA for the Dodgers and Kansas City.

"They have a lot of pitchers here," a resigned Dessens said. "I will do whatever they want me to do. Of course I want to start. That's why I went to winter ball (Hermosillo of the Mexican League), to build up my innings. They haven't told me what my (relief) role will be,

so I'll just wait until the (Grapefruit League) games start and see what happens."

Dessens, 36, is entering the final season of a two-year, $3.4 million contract. Logic would suggest the Dodgers will lose him to free agency if they don't have a rotation spot for him, but he also could be used as trade bait later in camp.

Field day: Former Dodgers third baseman Bill Mueller, forced into retirement last season by a knee injury and now serving as a special assistant to general manager Ned Colletti, will don a uniform today and begin a five-day stint as a special spring-training instructor.

Among other things, he is expected to work closely with third-base prospect Andy La Roche.

"If they think I can help some of the guys by giving my input, I'm willing," Mueller said.

He also is expected to address the team at today's morning meeting.

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Larry Bigbie missed playing in the World Series with St.Louis because of a hernia.

Elsa/Getty Images