Stock Crash for Blue-Chipper Guerrero

If you owned stock in Wilton Guerrero, you probably would have sold it long ago.

The second baseman’s value continues to plummet. He has gone from being a rookie-of-the-year candidate to being a part-time starter to being a reserve to being a pinch-hitter to being a pinch-runner to being back where he started--in the minors.

Guerrero was sent to the Dodgers’ triple-A farm team in Albuquerque on Friday to make room for left-handed pitcher Dennis Reyes. With the Dodgers’ acquisition of second baseman Eric Young earlier this week via trade, Guerrero wasn’t going to play much anyway.

Still, it figures to be a short stay for Guerrero. He almost certainly will be recalled in 10 days when the rosters are expanded.

Until then, the Dodgers want him to play every day, work on baserunning and fundamentals, and play both shortstop and second base.

At first glance, it might be hard to figure out why Guerrero was shipped out in the first place. He was batting .291, had nine triples, four home runs, 32 RBIs and had made only four errors.

But the areas that troubled the Dodgers don’t show up in a box score. They were concerned with Guerrero’s baserunning, his mental lapses, his failure to consistently turn the double play.

There was an instance when Guerrero, trying to scramble back to first after rounding second, missed the second base bag on his way back, a game in which he had to be practically dragged back to first by coach Mike Scioscia after he started for the dugout thinking there were three outs.

And there was the game against the Angels at Dodger Stadium when Guerrero, the potential tying run in the ninth inning, hit a drive down the left-field line and just stood there, assuming it was going foul.

Instead, it went fair and Guerrero wound up with a single instead of a double.

But, as was often the case, his talent overcame his inexperience. Guerrero went on to score the tying run from second base on a wild pitch, using his blinding speed.

Originally a shortstop, he was trying to learn the finer points of playing second at the big-league level.

He undoubtedly would have benefited overall from spending more time in the minors earlier this season.

“He understands why they made the move,” said Dodger coach Manny Mota, Guerrero’s tutor. “He knows that he was not going to play here that much.

“He wants to improve and he still feels he has a future in this organization.”

The other factor in Guerrero’s demotion was roster space. With two doubleheaders in the span of five days, the Dodgers want to carry 12 pitchers. With spots for only five bench players, they wanted someone who could play shortstop so they could rest their 35-year-old starter at that position, Greg Gagne, in the second game of the doubleheaders.

Juan Castro will fill the backup shortstop role.

Which left no role for Guerrero. But, from the Dodgers’ point of view, an opportunity to grow into the role they originally envisioned for him.

TONIGHT’S GAME

DODGERS’ HIDEO NOMO (11-10, 4.10 ERA) vs. PHILLIES’ TYLER GREEN (3-1, 4.91 ERA)

Veterans Stadium, 4 p.m.

TV--Channel 5. Radio--KABC (790), KWKW (1330)

* Update--The Dodgers have a chance to reach the goal Manager Bill Russell has put before them all season: the .500 mark on the road. The club began this 10-game swing with a 27-31 record away from home but, having won three of the first four, they are now only two below the break-even point. The Dodgers have won eight of nine games against the Phillies this season, including all three at Veterans Stadium. That guarantees the Dodgers their first winning record in Philadelphia since 1990 when they won four of six. Nomo will be trying to end a personal two-game losing streak today. The Dodgers will use Ismael Valdes on Sunday, Ramon Martinez and Tom Candiotti in Monday’s doubleheader against the Pirates in Pittsburgh, Chan Ho Park on Tuesday, and are expected to come back with Dennis Reyes on Wednesday in the finale of the trip.