Guillermo Mota

Guillermo Reynoso Mota (born July 25, 1973) is a Dominican former professional baseball relief pitcher in Major League Baseball.

In his career, he pitched for the Montreal Expos, Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida Marlins, Cleveland Indians, New York Mets, Milwaukee Brewers and San Francisco Giants.

Mota is 6 ft tall and weighs 240 lb. He throws and bats right-handed.

He throws three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a circle changeup.

Mota was born on July 25, 1973, in San Pedro de Macorís, in the Dominican Republic.

As a youth, he attended Jose Joaquin Perez High School.

Mota was originally signed by the New York Mets in 1990 as an infielder.

After high school, he was signed by the New York Mets on September 7, 1990, by scout Eddy Toledo.

After two years playing baseball in the Dominican Republic, Mota was assigned to the rookie-league Gulf Coast League Mets in 1993 as a third baseman.

He had a batting average of .249 with one home run and one stolen base and amassed a .934 fielding percentage in 43 games.

The next season, he spent most of the year with the rookie-league Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League, although he went hitless in four at bats in one game with the St. Lucie Mets of the single-A advanced Florida State League.

With Kingsport, he batted .245 while he struck out 78 times in 245 at-bats.

In 1995, Mota was moved to the shortstop position and assigned to the single-A Capital City Bombers of the South Atlantic League.

With the Bombers, he batted .243 and struck out 127 times in 400 at-bats while committing 40 errors at shortstop.

After several years in their organization, he was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the Rule 5 draft in 1996 and converted into a pitcher in 1997.

In 1996, he returned to the St. Lucie Mets, where he batted .234 with 90 strikeouts in 304 at-bats while committing 21 errors.

Following the season, he was selected by the Montreal Expos in the Rule 5 draft.

The Expos converted Mota to a pitcher in 1997 and assigned him to the Cape Fear Crocs of the South Atlantic League.

Starting 23 of his 25 games for the Crocs, he had a 5–10 record with a 4.36 earned run average (ERA) and 112 strikeouts in 126 innings.

In 1998, the Expos moved Mota to the bullpen, and he began the season with the single-A advanced Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League.

He posted a 3–2 record with a 0.66 ERA and two saves in 20 games and was promoted to the Harrisburg Senators of the double-A Eastern League during the season.

With the Senators, he had a 2–0 record with a 1.06 ERA and four saves in 12 games.

Mota had a 2.96 ERA in 1999, his rookie season, but he struggled in his next two seasons and was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers prior to 2002.

Mota began the 1999 season with the Ottawa Lynx of the triple-A International League.

His struggles continued in his first year with the Dodgers, but Mota had a career year in 2003, as he had a 6–3 record with a 1.97 ERA in 76 games.

He became the setup man to closer Éric Gagné in 2004, but was traded to the Florida Marlins midseason.

He had his best year since 2004 and became a free agent again after the season.

Mota started 2005 as their closer, but Todd Jones took over the role when Mota got hurt in April.

Following the year, Mota was traded to the Boston Red Sox.

Before Mota ever played for the Red Sox, however, he was traded again to the Cleveland Indians.

He struggled in his time with the Indians in 2006 and was designated for assignment by them in August.

The New York Mets acquired him, and Mota improved mightily upon joining them.

Following the season, he became a free agent, but he again signed with the Mets.

After struggling in 2007, he was traded to the Milwaukee Brewers.

He got off to a poor start with Milwaukee in 2008 but improved in the second half.

Following the season, Mota became a free agent and signed with the Dodgers again.

For the first time in his career, in 2010 he signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants.

After making the team out of spring training, Mota won his first career World Series despite struggling at times during the season.

Following the season, he signed another minor league contract with the Giants and made the team out of spring training again.

During the 2012 season, Mota became one of three players in league history to fail a drug test twice when it was shown he tested positive for Clenbuterol, a performance-enhancing drug.