THE Ex Files

By ROSS NEWHAN

Feb. 27, 2000 12 AM PT

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Having asked the Dodgers to trade him, Raul Mondesi asked for one more trade before leaving the Dominican Republic for the Toronto Blue Jays’ training base recently.

He refused to travel with luggage that carried the Dodger logo and asked the Blue Jays to send some of their own.

An “excited and happy” Mondesi is now quick to say that in leaving Los Angeles he will miss the fans but is otherwise dumping a lot of other heavy baggage:

* The albatross of great expectations, the belief that no matter what he did, it wasn’t good enough.

* The insinuations that he was leaving much of his focus and energy under the neon lights, playing as hard after the game as during it.

In starting fresh, with the impish goal of “winning the American League’s rookie-of-the-year award,” Mondesi would prefer to forget his often-turbulent six-plus years with the Dodgers--except it comes back at him in interviews and other reminders.

He was traded with Pedro Borbon in November for Shawn Green and Jorge Nunez after the Blue Jays looked into his lifestyle and concluded that it wasn’t an impediment.

Or as Mondesi said, “Do people think I have to be an angel? Who doesn’t go out for a drink or two? Every manager and player goes out.

“If I hit .220 with 15 home runs and 60 RBIs it would be different, but I had two seasons of 30-30 [home runs and stolen bases]. How many players have done that? What did they want from me?

“When the game started I was there. I give 100%. I take care of my family. That’s all anybody needs to know.”

Only eight players in baseball history have had more than one 30-30 season. Only Mondesi and Houston’s Jeff Bagwell did it last year.

The Blue Jays believe they acquired a five-tool player in exchange for one. They will bat Mondesi third, give him the green light on the bases and expect him to be a leader among their many talented Latino players. The Dodgers felt Mondesi lacked the discipline needed to bat third full time. They rhapsodized about his five tools but frequently worried about how they were used and what would become of them if Mondesi weren’t more judicious.

In Vero Beach, Mondesi’s mentor and confidant, Manny Mota, chose his words carefully.

“The only thing I’ll say is that Mondy needs to take care of himself,” Mota said. “He needs to focus on the game, concentrate better. Be on time. Be prepared. There’s no limit as to how good he can be.”

How often did Mondesi hear that with the Dodgers? Dave Stewart, now the Blue Jay assistant general manager, remembers his emotions while serving as San Diego’s pitching coach in 1998 and the up-close sense that “Mondesi was the one guy in the Dodger lineup who really scared you when he came to bat.”

Even last year, when a frustrated Mondesi admittedly lost focus during the collapse of a promising Dodger season, he established career highs with 33 homers, 99 runs batted in, 71 walks and 36 stolen bases.

He also hit only .253, had a miserable on-base percentage of .332, struck out a career-high 134 times, went 112 at-bats without a home run after having hit 18 in the first two months, and was often late for--or missed--meetings and batting practice.

He apologized for an expletive-laced tirade directed at Manager Davey Johnson and General Manager Kevin Malone when he was benched after arriving 10 minutes before an Aug. 11 game in Montreal, but it left an irreparable wound. Bob Daly, the club’s new chairman, left a postseason meeting convinced that Mondesi didn’t want to remain with the Dodgers.

“All of that is in the past,” Mondesi said. “It’s over and done with. I’m here and Green’s there. I have respect for everyone, but people have to respect me too. I feel I had a great career with the Dodgers and I have nothing bad to say about them. I will always appreciate the opportunity they gave me to play in the major leagues. I hope they do well, but the only thing I will really miss is the fans. They loved me and supported me for six years, and I appreciate that.

“Last year I lost my concentration. This year I have the chance to start fresh with no more problems and no more pressure. I told the manager [Jim Fregosi], ‘Let me play, do my thing, and everything will be OK.’ I just want to play and show what I can do. I don’t feel I have to prove anything, but there’s no question that I’ll have a great year. There was so much pressure in Los Angeles, no one can play like that.

“I was a rookie of the year, I won two Gold Gloves, and I did 30-30 twice, but the only thing people say is that he never drove in 100 runs. Well, I was almost always hitting behind Eric Karros and Mike Piazza. I never had any fast runners ahead of me and never had that many RBI chances because they were driving in most of the runs. This year will be different. I have a lot of speed ahead of me. It’s very important for me to drive in a hundred and I will.”

Mondesi will hit behind left fielder Shannon Stewart and second baseman Homer Bush and ahead of first baseman-designated hitter Carlos Delgado, who hit 44 homers and drove in 134 runs last year.

Fregosi said he hopes Stewart, Bush and Mondesi will steal more than 100 bases and that he can live with Mondesi’s strikeouts in the No. 3 spot as a trade-off for his aggressiveness.

“I want him to go play without expectations,” Fregosi said. “A lot of times, talented players get things put on their back that shouldn’t be there.”

Mondesi was still waiting for his new luggage in the Dominican when David Wells, who tends to march to his own heavy-metal beat, arrived in camp and proclaimed that the Blue Jays had made a bad trade because they hadn’t gotten enough for Green. Mondesi shrugged it off.

“I don’t know David Wells and he doesn’t know me and it doesn’t bother me anyway because I don’t care what people say,” he said.

To facilitate the trade, the Blue Jays agreed to pick up the two option years in Mondesi’s contract, meaning he is guaranteed four more years at a total of $44.5 million.

“I think Raul is really driven, that he feels he has something to prove, and that’s certainly to our benefit,” General Manager Gord Ash said. “We have a pretty good track record--as both a city and club--for making Latin players feel comfortable, and I think many of our younger Latin players look up to Raul already.”

Nevertheless, the gregarious Delgado is expected to be named team captain soon, which won’t displease Mondesi.

“To me, everyone as an individual has to be a leader and help pull it all together,” he said. “I won’t turn anyone away if they come to me with a question, but I’m not here to tell people what to do. That’s why you have a manager. I’m here to play ball.”

The Dodgers, of course, had concern about some of the directions Mondesi was heading and probably would advise younger players to be cautious about following. Stewart and Ash investigated that and found no reason to kill the deal.

“There haven’t been many players, past or present, who haven’t had a little night life in them,” Stewart said. “Mondy plays the game and plays hard, and this league should be conducive to him being even better. I mean, the parks are smaller and the strike zone is more forgiving. He has a chance to rack up some big numbers. If the Dodgers don’t miss him, it’s only because they got a five-tool player in return.”

Not to mention that exchange of baggage.

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Mondesi by the Numbers

Raul Mondesi batted .371 (13 for 35) against American League teams while playing with the Dodgers. A look at his last five seasons:

1995

AB HITS HR RBI AVG. 536 153 26 88 .285 1996

AB HITS HR RBI AVG. 634 188 26 88 .285 1997

AB HITS HR RBI AVG. 616 191 30 87 .310 1998

AB HITS HR RBI AVG. 580 162 30 90 .279 1999

AB HITS HR RBI AVG. 601 152 33 99 .253