NEW YORK (AP) -Guillermo Mota received plenty of support from his teammates when he joined the New York Mets on Wednesday after serving a 50-game suspension for testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.
Mota got a pat on the back from Tom Glavine before the Mets faced the San Francisco Giants. Fellow reliever Billy Wagner stood nearby as Mota answered questions about the suspension.
The right-hander said it was difficult watching the team while he was out.
“I was sitting and watching and thinking I don’t want to do it again,” Mota said. “It’s something you just learn from.”
The Mets optioned right-hander Ambiorix Burgos to Triple-A New Orleans to make room for Mota, who went 4-3 with a 4.53 ERA last season with Cleveland and New York. The Mets acquired Mota from the Indians on Aug. 20 and re-signed him to a $5 million, two-year contract in the offseason.
Mota wound up losing 59 days’ pay, or $580,328 of his $1.8 million salary for this season. He was getting ready at New Orleans before joining the team and said he felt like he was ready to help.
He wouldn’t talk about why he tested positive, saying he said everything he wanted to say about it in his initial statement. Right after the suspension was announced by Major League Baseball in November, Mota took full responsibility for his actions.
“I feel terrible and I promise this is the first and last time that this will happen,” he said. “I am determined to prove to you that this was one mistake.”
The 33-year-old Mota, a native of the Dominican Republic, has a 26-27 record with seven saves in eight major league seasons with the Montreal Expos, the Los Angeles Dodgers, Florida, Cleveland and the Mets.
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