What a bitch. Raul Mondesi to be an Angel

[Guest OctoberBlood]

http://www.canada.com/sports/baseball/stor...76-0A47EAF9E199

SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) - Outfielder Raul Mondesi has reached a deal to play for the Anaheim Angels just three weeks after walking away from the game.

 

The former all-star and Gold Glove winner said he got a $1.75-million US contract for the rest of the season. Mondesi said he will make his debut for the banged-up American League West leaders Sunday at Chicago. "I'm very pleased with the agreement I reached with the Angels," Mondesi said. Angels spokesman Tim Mead said he could neither confirm nor deny Mondesi's account.

 

The Pittsburgh Pirates recently terminated Mondesi's contract after he left them May 7 to return home to the Dominican. At the time, the former Toronto Blue Jays outfielder said he was fearful for his family's safety as he fights a lawsuit launched against him by Mario Guerrero.

 

Mondesi cleared waivers May 21, making him a free agent. He had said that other teams were interested in signing him, including the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles.

 

Mondesi said the Angels proposed sending him to the minors to get ready, but he rejected the request. Mondesi said he plans to leave the Dominican on Saturday.

 

"I'm in shape, I have been training everyday in a park close to my home," he said.

 

The Angels were swept earlier this week by the Toronto Blue Jays and began a weekend series Friday night against the Chicago White Sox with a 29-18 record, tied with Boston for the best in the majors.

 

Anaheim has done well despite putting stars Garret Anderson, Troy Glaus, Tim Salmon and Darin Erstad on the disabled list.

 

Angels manager Mike Scioscia is familiar with Mondesi, a former National League rookie of the year. Scioscia was a coach in Los Angeles when Mondesi played for the Dodgers.

 

"Raul can play centre field," Scioscia said earlier this week. "He would create a lot more depth that we have and you'd be able to have better options with matchups.

 

"It's something that we would welcome if it happens, but there is a lot to getting a player here."

 

On May 19, the Pirates cited breach of contract in ending all dealings with Mondesi. He was hitting .283 with two homers and 14 runs-batted in when he left.

 

Mondesi was paid approximately $192,000 of his $1.75 million contract before leaving, and the Pirates are not required to pay him any more. He was due a $600,000 buyout if the team did not pick up his $8-million option for 2005 but he left voluntarily.

 

Mondesi, 33, made $13 million last season with the New York Yankees and Arizona Diamondbacks. He is a career .276 hitter with 266 homers and 842 RBIs in 12 seasons.

 

In his suit, Guerrero said Mondesi promised him one per cent of his major league earnings for helping develop his skills.

 

Mondesi argued he didn't meet Guerrero until his career was well advanced. A Dominican court ruled in February that Mondesi owes Guerrero about $640,000. Mondesi is appealing.

 

The next hearing is scheduled for June 19.

Pathetic. Safety for his family my ass.

[Guest Just Looking]

Let's all watch the Angels spiral down the toilet after signing this cancer.

[Guest Anglesault]

My God, that's just so...

 

Roger Clemens. Big Rog has started the ball rolling with openly lying to your current team in an effort to go somewhere else. Mondesi saw the opening.

[the pinjockey 0]

It isn't fair to compare Clemens to this. Clemens wanted to be with his family, Mondesi said his family was in danger. Big difference there.

 

It is a disgrace that anyone would pick him up and I don't see how anyone could look him in the eye after this bullshit. He is a fucking worthless human being.

[Guest Anglesault]

Clemens lie lasted over a year. He went from the end of 2002 to the beginning of 04 openly lying to people's faces. You can easily compare them.

[jimmy no nose 0]

The worst part of the whole thing is that Mondesi will be making more money to play the remainder of the season in Anaheim than he was going to for a full year in Pittsburgh. He should've just said he was unhappy in Pittsburgh, he would've been traded for some mediocre prospects with in a couple weeks.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

From a strictly baseball standpoint, Raul Mondesi is not much better than Jeff DaVanon, from whom he'll likely take at bats. The Angels need infielders more than they need outfielders.

[Bruiser Chong 0]

What can of message does it send to other players when a guy can leave a team, citing personal reasons, have the team void his contract, leaving him with the option of being signed by another team. I think it's bullshit, since he said he'd be sitting out the rest of the season. Plus, his personal reasons were supposedly his family's safety. Are you telling me that those issues magically disappeared in three weeks?

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

A word of clarification. Mondesi's salary ($1,750,000) is the same that he received with the Pirates. One difference is that I don't think this contract has the buyout the Pirates contract held. So Mondesi loses $600,000 out of the deal.

 

What can of message does it send to other players when a guy can leave a team, citing personal reasons, have the team void his contract, leaving him with the option of being signed by another team.

 

For the Pirates, it was an opportunity because they had Jason Bay and Craig Wilson, and didn't need Raul Mondesi. They saved money without risking team quality. If a player held real value, the team would never void his contract.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

Actually, Mondesi has proven to be such a team cancer before... this might not actually be such a good thing for the Angels. The Angels are playing real good baseball right now, even with the amount of injuries they have suffered. To sign such a cancerous player like Mondesi, might really back fire for the Angels. Team chemestry is very important in baseball. And Mondesi has shown he can really screw up the chemestry of the teams he plays with. And boy, he is such a whiny player, who has basically blown all the talent that he has been given. When he broke into the league, he had the makings of a future Hall of Famer. He had an arm, speed, and could hit. I am sure all the Dodger fans were thinking this was the player to lead the Dodgers back to the promise land. Funny how fun it is to watch a player underachieve his whole career, and that is what Mondesi has been, an underachiever. And that is what he will always be. Beware Angels, the Yankees thought he was a good signing too, and they ended up losing in the first round of the playoffs. Mondesi is a real sketchy signing.

[Bored 0]

Really just a bizarre and unecessary move by the Angels. It almost makes me think they are worried about Vlad's back.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

Team chemestry is very important in baseball. And Mondesi has shown he can really screw up the chemestry of the teams he plays with.

 

Team chemestry is a load of crap. Mondesi's teams have made the playoffs three times. He's an underachiever and not mature, but that effects his performance, not his teammates. Vlad Guerrero is not going to lose 20 points off his batting average because Mondesi is a big poopy-pants.

[treble 0]

The Jays gave up Mondesi to the Yankees for practically nothing (Scott Wiggins) just to get him off the team and I'm pretty sure their record improved after that. I don't think chemistry is that important in terms of winning, but I don't think you can completely discount it, either. If there's someone in the clubhouse that no one likes, it's bound to effect something or someone.

[Guest Crazy Dan]

But I could see Mondesi driving his teammates absolute nuts. And what will hurt them is when the Angels (who I do think will make the playoffs) are in a Game 5 in the Divisionals, its the last inning, and they are down by 1, but have two men in scoring position. And just when you think they might pull off the win, up comes Mondesi, who either strikes out, or pops it up in the infield, or hits right to the first baseman. That is another thing the Yankees found out, Mondesi also has a tendency to choke. And you can add that to his resume also: Choker to go along with Underachiever, Cry-baby, and Team Cancer.

[Mole 0]

I thought he was on the Sox?

 

Oh wait, that is my dynasty for MVP Baseball.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

But I could see Mondesi driving his teammates absolute nuts. And what will hurt them is when the Angels (who I do think will make the playoffs) are in a Game 5 in the Divisionals, its the last inning, and they are down by 1, but have two men in scoring position. And just when you think they might pull off the win, up comes Mondesi, who either strikes out, or pops it up in the infield, or hits right to the first baseman. That is another thing the Yankees found out, Mondesi also has a tendency to choke. And you can add that to his resume also: Choker to go along with Underachiever, Cry-baby, and Team Cancer.

 

Even Vlad has a 61% chance of failing in that situation. The real problem is that Raul Mondesi simply isn't very good. He's a 20/20 player in an era where we learned there's little value in 20/20.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

I don't give two shits about the Pirates, but what Raul did was simply bullshit. I can't believe any club would sign him after what he pulled. I said in the this week in baseball thread that he went on Mark Madden's show a day after leaving the team, and the interview was simply golden.

 

Raul: I hit lots of home runs for this team.

Mark: You hit two.

Raul: Yes, and they went very far...

[jimmy no nose 0]

A word of clarification. Mondesi's salary ($1,750,000) is the same that he received with the Pirates. One difference is that I don't think this contract has the buyout the Pirates contract held. So Mondesi loses $600,000 out of the deal.

Is that really true? All the media outlets here in Pittsburgh say that the 1.75 million is more than he was making in Pittsburgh. I just found this article that says he was making 1.15 million as a Pirate:

http://pittsburgh.pirates.mlb.com/NASApp/m...s_pit&fext=.jsp

The Pirates, who are no longer obligated to play Mondesi, placed the veteran outfielder on waivers Wednesday, meaning he can be claimed by any team during the following 48 hours. A club claiming Mondesi will be responsible for picking up the remainder of his $1.15 million contract for this season as well as a $500,000 buyout for 2005. If Mondesi goes unclaimed, he will become a free agent.

 

I don't give two shits about the Pirates, but what Raul did was simply bullshit. I can't believe any club would sign him after what he pulled. I said in the this week in baseball thread that he went on Mark Madden's show a day after leaving the team, and the interview was simply golden.

 

Raul: I hit lots of home runs for this team.

Mark: You hit two.

Raul: Yes, and they went very far...

I don't think I heard that one, but I heard a Mondesi interview on there one day this week and it was actually the Disco Inferno talking with an accent, it was probably the same that time, he's on the show pretty often as a sports prognosticator and he was even making picks for the Stanley Cup game while pretending to be Mondesi. It was just a comedy segment I'm pretty sure.

[EVIL~! alkeiper 0]

I'm trying to find an original price, but can't quite track one down. However, I did find this gem......

 

The Dominican Republic native also indicated the legacy of former Pirates superstar Roberto Clemente, along with his familiarity with several Latin American players already on the Bucs' roster, played a part in his decision to sign with Pittsburgh.

 

"There are a lot of Dominican players here -- [Jose] Mesa, [Ruben] Mateo, Henry [Rodriguez], [Abraham] Nunez, Willis Roberts -- and I've known Randall Simon for a long time," noted Mondesi. "I feel like I am at my house."

 

Contrasted with a news article about the Angels signing......

 

Mondesi also expressed to the AP the fact that he will feel comfortable with his new teammates, many of whom he also knows well.

 

"Jose Guillen has been my friend since childhood because we grew up together in the same town," Mondesi said. "I get along very well with Bartolo Colon, Vladimir Guerrero and Ramon Ortiz, and Kelvim Escobar was my friend in Toronto."

[geniusMoment 0]

Both Guillen and Mondesi on the same team. Talk about two assholes on one team, I now hate the angels.