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 tall and weighs . He throws and bats right-handed. He throws three pitches: a fastball, a slider and a circle changeup.

Mota was originally signed by the New York Mets in 1990 as an infielder. 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. 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. 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. 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. He had his best year since 2004 and became a free agent again after the season. 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.

Early life 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. (Note: Click bio for information) After high school, he was signed by the New York Mets on September 7, 1990, by scout Eddy Toledo.

Professional career Minor leagues 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. 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 began the 1999 season with the Ottawa Lynx of the triple-A International League. With the Lynx, he had a 2–0 record with a 1.89 ERA and five saves in 14 games.

Montreal Expos (1999–2001) 1999 Mota was called up to the Expos on May 2 to replace relief pitcher Shayne Bennett, who had been demoted to Ottawa after struggling in his first four games. Mota made his major league debut the same day, pitching a scoreless inning in an 8–7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. He got his first major league decision on May 11, when, after pitching scoreless innings, he gave up a walk-off home run in the tenth inning to Luis Gonzalez in a 4–3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks. On June 1, he won his first major league game, also against Arizona after pitching three scoreless innings in the Expos' 10–8 victory on June 1. On June 9, he hit a three-run home run in his first major league at bat (against Mark Guthrie) in a 13–1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. On August 29, he allowed one run in one inning and was the winning pitcher in an 8–6 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The win (the Expos' eighteenth in August) set a new Expos' record for wins in a month. Mota had a 1.49 ERA over his first 32 games of the year, but a 15.00 ERA over his next six games brought his ERA for the season to 3.40. However, he collected a 1.38 ERA over his final 12 games to bring his ERA for the season down to 2.93, and he finished the year with a 2–4 record in 51 games.

2000 The Expos sent Mota to Ottawa to begin the 2000 season. However, he was called up to the Expos on May 20, and in his first game of the season with them, he gave up one run in one inning in an 8–7 victory over the Houston Astros. On June 11, he was the losing pitcher when he pitched inning and gave up two runs in an 8–3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays. He was returned to Ottawa on June 17 after posting a 12.60 ERA in his first 12 games with the Expos. Mota was recalled at the end of the month, but after appearing in one game (on July 1), he was returned to the Lynx. However, he was recalled on July 19 after Tony Armas Jr. was placed on the disabled list. Mota was returned to the minor leagues on July 27 when Hideki Irabu returned from the disabled list, but he was recalled soon after. However, Mota appeared in only one game before he was again returned to the minors, and he did not return to the Expos again until the beginning of September. At this point, he had a 9.98 ERA through 17 games. On September 11, in the second game of a doubleheader against the Philadelphia Phillies, he got his only win of the year by pitching one-third of an inning in a 7–6 victory. He had a 1.84 ERA over his final 12 games to finish the year with a 1–1 record and a 6.00 ERA in 29 games. With Ottawa, he had a 4–5 record with a 2.29 ERA and seven saves in 35 games.

2001 In 2001, Mota made the Expos out of spring training for the first time in his career. On May 12, he had a 1.59 ERA through his first 20 games of the year. However, eight earned runs allowed over his next six games raised his ERA to 4.00. Afterwards, though, he had a 2.08 ERA through his next 12 games. On June 17, he was the winning pitcher when he threw a scoreless inning in a 4–1 victory over Toronto. In his next game, on June 19, he was the losing pitcher when he gave up three runs (only one run was earned) without recording an out in a 4–1 loss to the New York Mets. However, after that 12-game stretch, he gave up five earned runs over his next four games to bring his ERA up to 4.29. On July 13, he was placed on the disabled list for the first time in his career with right shoulder tendinitis. Mota returned at the beginning of September, but he had a 10.57 ERA and two losses in his final 11 games of the year. He finished the season with a 1–3 record and a 5.26 ERA in 53 games.

Los Angeles Dodgers (2002–2004) 2002

Mota began spring training with the Expos in 2002, but was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers with outfielder Wilkin Ruan for pitcher Matt Herges and infielder Jorge Nunez on March 23. He failed to make the Dodgers' major league club in spring training and was assigned to the Las Vegas 51s of the triple-A Pacific Coast League to begin the season. He was called up on April 20 when Kevin Brown was placed on the disabled list. After appearing in two games, he was returned to Las Vegas on April 30 when Brown came off the disabled list. On May 17, he was called up a second time. In 22 games through July 14, he had a 2.43 ERA. On June 3, he pitched a scoreless inning and earned the win in an 11–5 victory over the Colorado Rockies. However, he was returned to Las Vegas on July 28 after he had a loss and a 13.50 ERA over his next seven games. He did not return to the Dodgers until August 26, when Kevin Beirne was demoted to the minors. That same day, he was the losing pitcher when he gave up three runs (two earned) in his third inning of work in a 12-inning 6–3 loss to Arizona. He was the losing pitcher again on September 13 when he gave up three runs in the seventh inning and blew a 4–2 lead over Colorado. He posted a 3.92 ERA over his final 14 games of the year to finish with a 1–3 record and a 4.15 ERA in 43 games. With the 51s, he had a 1–3 record with a 2.95 ERA in 20 games.

Conflict with Mike Piazza On March 28, 2002, Mota hit Mike Piazza, catcher for the Mets at the time, with a pitch in a spring training game against the Mets. After Mota was removed from the game, Piazza grabbed him by the neck and had to be separated from Mota by other players. Piazza received a $3,000 fine for his actions. Next season, in a spring training game against the Mets on March 12, Mota hit Piazza with a pitch. Piazza charged the mound, starting a brawl, and both players were ejected from the game. After the game, Piazza entered the Dodgers' clubhouse looking for Mota. Informed that Mota had left, Piazza searched the clubhouse before leaving. Mota said that hitting Piazza was not intentional, but both he and Piazza were suspended five games in the regular season and fined—Mota $1,500 and Piazza $3,000. Mota's suspension was later reduced to four games.

2003 In 2003, Mota earned a roster spot with the Dodgers after spring training. From May 1 to 27, he pitched consecutive scoreless innings. On May 23, against the Milwaukee Brewers, he got his first save when he pitched three scoreless innings in a 6–4 victory. Manager Jim Tracy used him to get the save because he wanted to rest closer Éric Gagné. On May 29, Mota struck out six batters in three innings in a 12–5 loss to Colorado. From June 11 through July 17, he threw consecutive scoreless innings. On July 13, he hit his second career home run (against Joe Roa) in a 9–3 victory over Colorado. In August, he had a 2–0 record with a 0.44 ERA in 21 games. Mota finished the season with a 6–3 record and a 1.97 ERA in 76 games, and his 105 innings pitched were the most by a Dodger reliever since 1985, when Tom Niedenfuer threw . His 105 innings pitched led National League (NL) relief pitchers and were just two shy of American League leader Steve Sparks. Mota, Gagné, Tom Martin, and Paul Quantrill were the first relief pitcher teammates to appear in at least 76 games in a season. His opponent batting average of .205 ranked tenth among NL relievers, and left-handers' .181 average against him ranked fourth in the NL.

2004