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. He had a batting average of .249 with one home run and one stolen base and amassed a .934 fielding percentage in 43 games. The next season, he spent most of the year with the rookie-league Kingsport Mets of the Appalachian League, although he went hitless in four at bats in one game with the St. Lucie Mets of the single-A advanced Florida State League. With Kingsport, he batted .245 while he struck out 78 times in 245 at-bats.