Dodgers Pick Up Free Agent Brooks

The Dodgers, needing to boost their offense, reached agreement today with free agent Hubie Brooks, The Times has learned.

The Dodgers were to announce the deal at an afternoon news conference. It was believed Brooks got a multiyear contract, possibly for three seasons.

Brooks, 33, batted .268 with 14 home runs and 70 RBIs with Montreal last season. This week he rejected salary arbitration and again said he did not intend to return to the Expos.

Brooks joined the Dodgers a day after they traded right fielder Mike Marshall and relief pitcher Alejandro Pena to the New York Mets for center fielder Juan Samuel.

Brooks, who began his career as an infielder, played right field for the Expos for the past few seasons.

The Dodgers were last in the major leagues with 554 runs last season. Only St. Louis hit fewer home runs than Los Angeles’ 89, and the Dodgers’ .240 average was 10th among the 12 NL League teams.

Brooks is a .276 lifetime hitter with 103 homers and 609 RBIs in 10 seasons. He began his career with the New York Mets in 1980 and was traded to the Expos in December, 1984, in a deal that sent Gary Carter to the Mets.

Brooks was troubled by injuries in the middle of his career, but his move to the outfield at the start of the 1988 season seemed to help his health. He has been physically fit for two straight years for the first time since 1985.

The Dodgers and Detroit were among the teams that expressed immediate interest when Brooks filed for free agency. Brooks wanted the Dodgers, and they wanted him but needed to wait to see if they could trade the injury-plagued Marshall.

Eddie Murray, with 20 home runs last season, was the only Los Angeles player to hit more than 12 homers. Kirk Gibson and Kal Daniels, if they stay healthy, are expected to join Samuel, Murray and Brooks in a much-improved offense next season.

Brooks hit 20 homers with 90 RBIs for Montreal in 1988. In 1985, in his first season with the Expos, he drove in 100 runs.

Brooks’ offensive weakness is the same as Samuel’s trouble--poor on-base percentage. Brooks has struck out 108 times in each of his last two years while averaging about 30 walks for five seasons.

Samuel, who hit .235 with 11 homers and 48 RBIs in a down season with the Mets and Philadelphia, struck out 120 times and walked only 42.