Mondesi Not in Their Plans

The Angels on Friday became the second team this season to terminate the contract of Raul Mondesi after the troubled outfielder had taken an unauthorized leave of absence to return to the Dominican Republic and repeatedly missed appointments to rehabilitate his torn right thigh muscle.

“The decision was made because he had an obligation to show up and try and get better,” Angel General Manager Bill Stoneman said of Mondesi, who hit .118 with one homer and one run batted in eight games before going on the disabled list June 9.

“We had been paying him, and he was obligated to show up for rehab just as he would be obligated to show up here if he weren’t injured. We just reached the point that we realized his commitment wasn’t quite the same that ours was.”

Mondesi, 33, had taken two leaves of absence as an Angel -- one excused, one unexcused -- to return to the Dominican Republic to deal with what Stoneman described as family issues. The unexcused absence earned Mondesi a three-day suspension by the Angels, who also warned Mondesi about missing rehabilitation.

Mondesi had left the Pittsburgh Pirates in early May to return to his native country to fight a lawsuit filed by former major leaguer Mario Guerrero, who claimed Mondesi promised him 1% of his major league earnings for helping develop his skills.

Pittsburgh terminated Mondesi’s contract after his departure, and the Angels, worried that center fielder Garret Anderson might be sidelined for months because of a mysterious back ailment, signed Mondesi on May 29 to a $1.75-million contract for the rest of the season. Anderson has since returned, and the Angels expect outfielder Jeff DaVanon to return within the next 10 days after lower back spasms had landed him on the disabled list.

Stoneman said he spoke Friday with Mondesi’s agent, who did not know why the outfielder had missed an appointment earlier this week at a rehabilitation center in Orange. Stoneman said he heard Mondesi, who will not be paid for the season’s last two months, was back in the Dominican Republic.

Mondesi’s agent could not be reached for comment.

“It’s a disappointment,” Stoneman said. “Before we did the deal with him, we did some background on him and actually got some favorable recommendations. We know about the issues in the past, but more recently it appeared he was a guy that was a welcome guy in both Arizona and Pittsburgh.

“Why he’s reacted this way, I really can’t tell you.”

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The non-waiver trade deadline will pass today, probably without any significant moves by the Angels, whose bid to acquire Randy Johnson has apparently fallen short.

The Angels are believed to have offered pitcher Ramon Ortiz and first baseman Casey Kotchman for the Arizona Diamondback ace but refused to part with catcher Jeff Mathis or reliever Scot Shields.

“You’re a little bit stuck because we are really committed to our minor league system,” Angel owner Arte Moreno said. “These kids really have worked hard, went through our organization and some of them are getting real close to coming up.”

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Vladimir Guerrero said he took a wide turn around first base after his 12th-inning single Thursday night moved Anderson to third with the potential winning run because he thought Seattle center fielder Randy Winn was throwing to third base.

Instead, Winn threw to second baseman Bret Boone, who fired the ball to first baseman Scott Spiezio to get Guerrero going back to first. Instead of runners on first and third with nobody out, the Angels had a runner on third with one out.

Guerrero said Friday he didn’t realize at the time that his run was meaningless.

“I wasn’t thinking about Garret in front of me,” Guerrero said, “because I was overaggressive and I made a mistake.”

Darin Erstad and pinch-hitter Josh Paul failed to bring Anderson home, and the Mariners went on to win, 6-5, in 13 innings on Boone’s run-scoring single.

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Anderson was back at designated hitter Friday, one night after returning to center field for the first time in six games, though Manager Mike Scioscia said Anderson had not suffered a setback and was being slowly worked back into regular duty in center. Curtis Pride made his first start for the Angels, in center.

Times staff writer Mike DiGiovanna contributed to this report.