When Adrian Gonzalez was traded to the Dodgers last August, no one could have known what that would mean for reliever Javy Guerra.

Gonzalez asked Guerra if he would join Team Mexico on Saturday after reliever David Hernandez was ruled ineligible and switched teams, from Mexico to the United States. Guerra readily accepted after getting permission from Dodgers general manager Ned Colletti.

“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” he said.

It’s something he might not have been able to do without Gonzalez, the team captain for Mexico.

“He’s running the whole thing,” Guerra said. “He’s sending all the emails and doing more than people think.”

Guerra, Gonzalez and Dodgers third baseman Luis Cruz won’t have to go far to join their WBC team, since Mexico will practice out of Camelback Ranch. Guerra said he can even keep his parking space.

Guerra threw a scoreless inning Wednesday against the Chicago Cubs and is scheduled to throw an inning today against the Cleveland Indians. He hasn’t felt any lingering effects of arthroscopic surgery to clean up bursitis in the A-C joint in his right shoulder last November.

Although Guerra was born in Texas, his father and mother were both born in Mexico. Luis Javy Guerra Sr. still lives in Muzquiz, Mexico, about three hours south of the border. When he spoke of representing “my country” Sunday, Guerra shrugged and offered a simple explanation.

“That’s where my parents were born,” he said. “That’s my heritage.”