*Braves sign 1B-OF Bobby Bonilla to minor-league pact*
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ATLANTA (Ticker) -- If the Atlanta Braves were looking for
someone to take the heat off embattled closer John Rocker, they
may have found the right man. 

The Braves today inked first baseman-outfielder Bobby Bonilla to
a minor league contract and invited the controversial veteran to
spring training.  The 36-year-old Bonilla, no stranger to
outlandish statements, was released by the New York Mets on
January 3. 

Coincidentally, Bonilla's final straw with New York arose from a
situation in Atlanta.  In Game Six of the Mets' National League
Championship Series against the Braves, he and teammate Rickey
Henderson remained in the clubhouse playing cards during the
tense extra innings. 

The incident was the latest during a tenuous 1999 for Bonilla, a
six-time All-Star who has seen his productivity tail off
severely over the last two seasons.  Bonilla was slated to make
$5.9 million this season but had his deal restructured prior to
being released by the Mets. 

"Bobby (manager Bobby Cox) and I feel that Bonilla adds great
depth and strength to our bench and provides us with another
very productive offensive player," Braves general manager John
Schuerholz said. 

Bonilla hit just .160 with five doubles, four home runs and 18
RBI in 60 games for the Mets.  He twice was placed on the
disabled list, spending three weeks in May and nearly all of
July and August sidelined with left knee injuries. 

Bonilla refused minor-league injury rehabilitation assignments
and battled manager Bobby Valentine throughout the campaign.  He
now joins a team ripped by turmoil this offseason.  Rocker was
quoted in a Sports Illustrated article disparaging New Yorkers
and a number of ethnic groups.  He also called one teammate "a
fat monkey." 

Bonilla is a native New Yorker. 

The switch-hitter was in his second stint with the Mets, who
acquired him from Los Angeles in November 1998 for reliever Mel
Rojas.  Bonilla batted .237 with seven homers and 30 RBI in 72
games for the Dodgers in 1998 after he was obtained from the
Florida Marlins, whom he helped to the 1997 World Series title. 

Bonilla also played for the Chicago White Sox and Pittsburgh
before his first stint with the Mets from 1992-95, when he was
traded to Baltimore.  His first stay in his hometown was marked
by frequent run-ins with the New York media. 

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