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.

After making the team out of spring training, Mota won his first career World Series despite struggling at times during the season.

[1][2] 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.

[3] In 1995, Mota was moved to the shortstop position and assigned to the single-A Capital City Bombers of the South Atlantic League.

[2] The Expos converted Mota to a pitcher in 1997 and assigned him to the Cape Fear Crocs of the South Atlantic League.

[3] 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.

[3] 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.

[4][5] Mota made his major league debut the same day, pitching a scoreless inning in an 8–7 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

[8] 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.

[14] On June 11, he was the losing pitcher when he pitched 1⁄3 inning and gave up two runs in an 8–3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.

[16] 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.

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.

[1] 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 106+1⁄3.

[1] Mota, Gagné, Tom Martin, and Paul Quantrill were the first relief pitcher teammates to appear in at least 76 games in a season.

[1] That day, he was traded to the Florida Marlins with Juan Encarnación and Paul Lo Duca for Hee-seop Choi, Brad Penny, and Bill Murphy.

[51] On November 24, Mota was traded with Josh Beckett and Mike Lowell to the Boston Red Sox for four prospects: Jesús Delgado, Harvey García, Hanley Ramírez, and Aníbal Sánchez.

[54] Mota never played a game with the Red Sox, as of January 27, 2006, he was traded to the Cleveland Indians with Andy Marte, Kelly Shoppach, a player to be named later (eventually Randy Newsom),[2] and cash considerations for Coco Crisp, David Riske, and Josh Bard.

[55] The trade was postponed slightly because Mota failed to pass a physical, so the Indians put him on a conditioning program before spring training.

[57] On August 28, he was the losing pitcher when he gave up a walk-off home run to Ryan Howard in the 10th inning of a 4–2 loss to Philadelphia.

[73] He earned the win on September 12 in a 4–3 victory over the Atlanta Braves despite losing a two-run lead in the eighth inning.

[77] On May 11, Brewers manager Ned Yost removed Gagné from the closer's role and decided to use different pitchers in save opportunities.

[77][81] On August 24, Mota was the winning pitcher in a 4–3 victory over Pittsburgh when he entered the game with the bases loaded and no outs and did not allow a run to score in one inning of work.

[89][90] After the game, Fielder attempted to gain entry into the Dodgers' clubhouse to confront Mota but was stopped by teammates.

[90] On August 31, Mota was placed on the disabled list with an ingrown toenail to make room for Ronnie Belliard on the roster.

[94] On February 2, 2010, Mota signed a minor league contract with the San Francisco Giants with an invitation to spring training, marking the first time he was a non-roster invitee.

[99] On August 23, he was placed on the disabled list with iliotibial band syndrome to make room for Cody Ross on the Giants' roster.

[101] Mota did not give up an earned run in his final five appearances of the season[97] to finish the year with a 1–3 record and a 4.33 ERA in 56 games, and he made the Giants' playoff roster as they won the NL West.

[108] On May 7, 2012, MLB announced that they were suspending Mota for 100 games due to his testing positive for Clenbuterol, a performance-enhancing substance.

[111] Mota had three different kinds of pitches: a fastball, a slider, and a circle changeup, and occasionally he mixed in a splitter and a curveball.