Mondesi: Pay Me or Trade Me

Saying he feels “unappreciated” because of the Dodgers’ reluctance to meet his multiyear contract request, right fielder Raul Mondesi won’t consider further offers and would like to be traded, he told The Times on Thursday.

Contacted at his off-season home in the Dominican Republic, the two-time Gold Glove winner said emphatically that he doesn’t want to remain with the Dodgers after they failed to meet his self-imposed Thursday deadline to agree on a new deal.

Mondesi had sought a six-year $60-million package, and he instructed his agent, Jeff Moorad, to stop negotiating unless an agreement had been reached in principle by Thursday night.

After that deadline passed, Mondesi, who won’t be eligible for free agency until after the 1999 season, said he would welcome a trade. If he remains with the Dodgers, he probably would sign two one-year contracts.

Mondesi, who earned $2.7 million last season, recently filed for arbitration, seeking $6.5 million. The Dodgers countered at $5.3 million.

“For the length of time I’ve been here, for my performance and for what I’ve contributed to this team, I feel it’s time for them to show me some gratitude,” Mondesi said through an interpreter. “I’m mad about this whole thing. They say they want me to be a big part of the team for a long time, they say they want me to be happy, but that’s not what they show me.

“All I want is to be appreciated. If [the Dodgers] really appreciated my talent and skills they would want me to be happy . . . they would want to take care of this as soon as possible. There are a lot of teams out there that would love to have me, and I’ll play for any other team right now.”

It’s highly unlikely the Dodgers would trade Mondesi, 26, at this time.

When informed of Mondesi’s comments, Dodger Executive Vice President Fred Claire didn’t seem alarmed, though he expressed concern.

“There has been a lot of conversation, and I feel there has been a lot of progress to this point,” he said. “But what that will produce is always difficult to say.

“We are working very hard to do something for more than one year. If that doesn’t work, we’re going to go back and look at the one-year arena.”

Sources close to the negotiations said the Dodgers had presented Moorad with a multiyear offer late Thursday night that was more in line with what Mondesi was seeking, but the package was still unacceptable.

“Raul made his feelings clear from the beginning,” Moorad said. “This is something that is very important to him.”

Claire and Moorad declined to discuss the negotiations, but sources close to Mondesi said the block appears to be the average annual salary and the deal’s length.

Mondesi is willing to take less than the $10-million average salary he had requested for the guaranteed portion of the contract.

While not commenting specifically on those points, Moorad acknowledged that Mondesi had “made concessions.”

“I don’t know what more I could have done,” Mondesi said. “I’m definitely shocked by this because of what I’ve done for this team. This is all about respect.

“No one out there works harder than me, and no one plays harder than I do. I just want them to show me some love in return, but maybe they think what I do is easy.”

Mondesi last season became the first Dodger to hit 30 home runs and steal 30 bases in a season, batting .310 with 30 home runs, 87 runs batted in and 32 stolen bases. He also led the Dodgers with 42 doubles and won his second Gold Glove award.

“This is where my heart is,” Mondesi said. “This is where I want to be, but the bottom line is that I don’t want to be with the Dodgers unless [the deadline was met]. Staying here now would affect my play because I’m not happy. I don’t understand this.”

The Dodgers have had only three arbitration hearings in the last nine years. Orel Hershiser, in 1987, was the last marquee player to take them to arbitration.

“Raul is very important to us,” Claire said. “We’re going to continue to work on this.”