January 13, 200521 yr Former star says Atlanta has promised him right field Raul Mondesi said he has agreed to terms with the Atlanta Braves on a one-year contract. Mondesi told The Associated Press that he will earn $1 million, and that the deal includes performance bonuses that could bring the total value up to $1.7 million. ?I will travel to Atlanta tonight to take a physical early Friday, and the deal will be official afterward,? Mondesi said Thursday. According to Braves spokesman Brad Hainje, assistant general manager Frank Wren said Mondesi?s claim was not true. ?We don?t have any news on Mondesi,? Hainje said. ?There are a number of players we?re talking to. I don?t know if Mondesi is one of them. ?He has not signed with us, and we don?t have plans for an announcement today.? Mondesi said he chose Atlanta over Baltimore because the Braves offered him the starting right field position. That spot opened when J.D. Drew signed a $55 million, five-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. ?The Orioles offered more money, but they didn?t guarantee a regular spot on the team,? Mondesi said. ?I?m still a young man that can do many things on the field. Mondesi, 33, hit .241 with three home runs and 15 RBIs in 34 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates and Anaheim Angels last season, when he was shadowed by off the field trouble. Mondesi began the season with the Pirates, who terminated his contract on May 19 ? just 12 days after he left the team to return to his native Dominican Republic to fight a lawsuit. Mondesi, who claimed he was fearful for his family?s safety, contested a lawsuit by former major leaguer Mario Guerrero, a fellow Dominican who said Mondesi promised him 1 percent of his major league earnings for helping develop his skills. ?That won?t happen again,? Mondesi said. ?The Braves are already warned about Guerrero?s attempts to ruin my life.? The Angels terminated Mondesi?s contract after he failed to show up for a rehabilitation appointment following a leg injury. Mondesi was placed on the disabled list because of a torn right quadriceps just 11 days after signing with Anaheim. The contract was to pay him $1.75 million for the rest of the season. He played only eight games with Anaheim, going 4-for-34. Mondesi?s last game was a 17-inning affair against Milwaukee on June 8, when he hurt himself while running out a grounder in the fifth inning. He kept playing until he grounded out for the final out of Anaheim?s 1-0 loss. Mondesi left the Pirates after the team retained his first two paychecks because of the lawsuit. ?I?ll try to think that there?s nothing else in life besides my job,? he said. Mondesi, the 1994 NL rookie of the year with Los Angeles, has a career .275 average, with 267 home runs and 843 RBI in 12 seasons.
January 13, 200521 yr How overrated has this guy been for the longest time? Whatever.. ok move by the braves i guess.. he did come cheap. Over/under on his first injury?
January 14, 200521 yr I say damn good. They will proly get like 20 dingers and 80+ RBIs out of this guy for a cool million. The braves get more out of little tha any team in the bigs.
January 14, 200521 yr This is a solid signing by Atlanta. Mondesi can be a real potent force. He can hit the ball very well and has a canon for an arm. It's a steal.
January 14, 200521 yr I think this signing is a joke...Mondesi won't last two months in the Braves clubhouse. Bobby Cox will not tolerate his antics.
January 14, 200521 yr I am now waiting for Mondesi to have an MVP like season. 655545[/snapback] and you know he will f***in Braves
January 14, 200521 yr He's not going to have a great season, he might have a good enough season that he'd be worth considerably more than what they are giving him but that isn't a given. It's a risky move, because if they guaranteed him the starting job and if he thoroughly stinks it up like he is capable of then they are screwed.
January 14, 200521 yr I am now waiting for Mondesi to have an MVP like season. 655545[/snapback] Signing with the Braves at least guarantees you an all-star birth.
January 14, 200521 yr How is a 1million dollar signing a bad or risky move? We gave Valdez 1.5 and Perisucks close to 700K
January 14, 200521 yr It's risky cause he's had some major problems the last few years. I know everyone somehow resurrects their career in Atlanta, but I'm hoping Mondesi is beyond help... baseball-wise anyways.
January 15, 200521 yr At the very least, it means that they're out of the Magglio sweepstakes (because I couldn't shake this feeling they'd get him). But I'd expect Mondesi to at least play like he did with the Yankees. Solid, if not spectacular, signing for the Braves...damn I hate them.
January 15, 200521 yr It's risky cause he's had some major problems the last few years. I know everyone somehow resurrects their career in Atlanta, but I'm hoping Mondesi is beyond help... baseball-wise anyways. 655875[/snapback] A million aint risky this day in age.
January 15, 200521 yr It's risky cause he's had some major problems the last few years. I know everyone somehow resurrects their career in Atlanta, but I'm hoping Mondesi is beyond help... baseball-wise anyways. 655875[/snapback] A million aint risky this day in age. 656098[/snapback] I agree... I didn't mean risky in the financial sense.. Just risky that they have someone in their every day lineup, having no clue what he's gonna give them.
January 16, 200521 yr I think the marlins should have released encarnacion and gone after mondesi. He has a cannon for an arm and is on another offensive level entirely, compared to encarnacion.
January 17, 200521 yr I think the marlins should have released encarnacion and gone after mondesi. He has a cannon for an arm and is on another offensive level entirely, compared to encarnacion. 657267[/snapback] If you release a player you still have to pay them.
January 21, 200521 yr From ESPN Two big reasons the Braves took a chance on Raul Mondesi: 1) Special assistant Jim Fregosi managed Mondesi in Toronto and found him anything but unmanageable. And 2) the Braves are confident in Bobby Cox's magical ability to motivate just about anybody.
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