Alex Rios Given Away
So after days of speculation and presumably hours of intense negotiations over Alex Rios, the Jays have traded him for…err…squat. The Hardball Times crunches the numbers here, which point out in fancy ways that we’re trading him at his lowest value ever, he’s an underrated defender, and if you think the Jays are going to get some sort of magical, best-case scenario ever haul on the free agent market next year, you’re delusional:
In other words, Alex Rios is a bargain. The Blue Jays shouldn’t be looking to dump his salary on the waiver wire.
At least games will be easier to watch now that he’s not constantly pulling his brain-dead shenanigans or looking apathetic at the plate, but when a team starts giving away guys in their prime because they think 12 million dollars is an unreasonable amount to have an outfielder locked into for the next few years, they are not really trying to compete, let alone do so in the AL East.
This is also a fun time to pull out this J.P. quote from two State of The Franchises ago:
I think it’s our job to explore every possible option that’s out there…when you see the Santana’s of the world getting 150 million dollar and the Zitos’ of the world getting 120 million dollars, you realize the value of getting pitching and how tough it is. When we were presented with that, we thought long and hard. And obviously we value Rios more than we valued the other guy, and that’s why he’s still here.
When he famously and hilariously claimed that the Blue Jays were the ones to have pulled the plug on the Rios-Lincecum swap. Has anyone checked the waiver wire for Tim Lincecum lately? Maybe they can pick him up off the free agent wire for 12 million bucks. In 2047.
The Mockingbird 
A tough pill to swallow.
Do you think he was worth $12 million, on a team with an $80 million payroll, and Vernon Wells?
eyebleaf
August 10, 2009 at 8:09 pm
Yep. The one-year contract bargain bin of the century isn’t going to last. Check out the free agent tracker for a walk down memory lane of what free agents really cost when not in the middle of the biggest financial uncertainty/crisis of the century:
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/features/freeagents?positionId=9&season=2007
Geoff Jenkins: 13 million dollars
Jose Guillen: 12 million x 3 dollars
Mike Cameron: 7 million dollars
Torii Hunter: 18 million dollars
Aaron Rowand: 12 million x 5 dollars
Ok, that was at a relatively high FA time, but it was also 2007 and not 2015. It wasn’t as great a contract as it looked when it was signed, but a worthless one? The Jays have everything to lose and nothing to gain with this one.
halejon
August 10, 2009 at 8:30 pm
wow, the Blue Jays are lucky…thats about like unloading half a Zito on some sucker…
jeff
August 10, 2009 at 8:31 pm
Not even close – Zito is ~18.5 million for an OPS that has flattened out at 98/85/98. Alex Rios is 12 and has an OPS of 120/122/111, with one bad year of 94. Much cheaper, younger, way more likely to rebound, and possibly the best defensive RF in the league. Some unload!
halejon
August 10, 2009 at 8:45 pm
okay, halejon- you know much more than i do, but why is Rios’ slugging continuing to drop every year??
.516 (2007)
.498
.461
.427 (2009)
could he have been a ‘roider?
jeff
August 10, 2009 at 9:00 pm
oops, that was .516 in 2006 obviously…
jeff
August 10, 2009 at 9:02 pm
[…] Alex Rios Given Away « The Mockingbird2 hours ago So after days of speculation and presumably hours of intense negotiations over Alex Rios, the Jays have traded him for…err…squat. The Hardball Times crunches the numbers here, which point out in fancy ways that we […]
alex rios
August 10, 2009 at 9:24 pm
That’s a good question. I don’t know much more. Did a thing on him not being able to do much with outside pitches here:
https://bjays.wordpress.com/2007/10/06/did-pitchers-adapt-to-alex-rios/
And apparently this season his one hole is up and away from him:
http://msn.foxsports.com/mlb/playerHotZone?categoryId=154595
Last season it looked like Denbo had him in this weird deep crouch where he was almost leaning backwards, that could have something to do with this. I have no idea what’s wrong this year – nothing really popped out of the pitch f/x database, and Cito had me drinking the kool-aid with all that talk of him hitting 35 HR’s in March.
I wouldn’t say ANYone couldn’t have been a roider these days, but to me it just looks like he’s making lousy contact. If that’s really a linear trend, then it was a great dump by the Jays – but who does that in their prime? Ok, ok, except maybe a roider…
halejon
August 10, 2009 at 9:32 pm
[…] financial …Hardball – http://blogs.chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports_hardball/|||Alex Rios Given Away « The Mockingbird3 hours ago So after days of speculation and presumably hours of intense negotiations over Alex […]
[标签:seo标题] | sodini video
August 10, 2009 at 11:08 pm
Maybe I’m unrealistic, but at $12 million, at the length and value of that contract, I want more. I want more than a career OPS of .786. I want more than a career high of 25 home runs and 85 RsBI.
I know Rios is great in the field, and that we will miss his defence and arm. But RF is now Sniderman’s, and that’s fine by me.
I liked Rios. Dude was a Jays lifer. Believed in him. Wanted him to succeed. But even I got a little tired of waiting for him to “get it.”
Contracts are ridiculous. I saw the ones you posted; they’re absurd. Payrolls went down almost $50 million from 2008 to 2009; I think that trend will continue. It was the contracts given to Hunter, and Wells, and Zito, that were hopefully the final ridiculous ones.
I don’t know; I was upset about this at first, but the more I think about it, the more I think they may have done the right thing. Only time will tell.
eyebleaf
August 11, 2009 at 12:03 am
I don’t get why Rios’s stance is so spread out. I know that’s the fashion these days, but Rios seems to take it to a ridiculous extreme. Seems like he’s got very little lower body to swing with, and not much flexibility to reach outside pitches. I don’t remember for sure, but I don’t think he was nearly as spread out in his first year or two. But then, if something that simple would make a difference, you’d think Cito and Geno would’ve fixed it….
Who knows whether this was a good move for the Jays or not, but that something like this might be a good move for your team does not bode well for your team.
Cincinnatus C.
August 11, 2009 at 2:38 am
He’s not worth 12m. Good cut. He’ll drag on the ChiSox until he realizes its keep the money and suck or play what he’s being paid to play…kinda like Lastings Milledge.
Jesus Rios
Jesus Rios
August 11, 2009 at 10:59 am
The other Jays wasted no time in anonymously throwing Rios under the bus in Jayson Stark’s column. Also, they said nothing we didn’t already suspect.
Torgen
August 13, 2009 at 4:35 pm
You can say that again – or that you couldn’t literally see with your own eyes on next to every play…
halejon
August 14, 2009 at 4:54 pm
I think he is worth $12 million,and a team with an $80 million payroll, I think Rios is great in the field. Bye…
JOSHUA
October 4, 2010 at 1:33 am