The Rangers have informed outfielder Alex Rios that the club will decline its $13.5MM option for next year, Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reports. Rios will instead receive a $2MM buyout.
That news is hardly a surprise, as Texas was said to be leaning strongly in that direction. Rios ended his first full season with the club on somewhat of a down note, ending the year on the DL with a thumb issue after a tough season. He slashed .280/.311/.398 over 521 plate appearances on the year, hitting four home runs and swiping 17 bags a year after he was good for 18 long balls and 42 steals. With his value on the bases down and defensive metrics generally viewing Rios as a below-average right fielder, he ultimately landed just above replacement level.
Rios should still garner plenty of interest on the free agent market. He will be entering his age-34 season, so a lengthy pact would be surprising, but Rios is not far removed from some very good seasons. Over 2012-13, he slashed .291/.329/.473 in 1,302 plate appearances with 43 home runs and 65 steals.
The news that the Rangers will decline the option brings to an end one of the more interesting contracts in recent memory. Fresh off of two big seasons, Rios inked a seven-year, $69.835MM extension with the Blue Jays back in April of 2008. Things turned sharply down in the 2009 season, but Toronto was famously bailed out of the deal when the White Sox claimed Rios off waivers.
Though Rios struggled mightily at times in Chicago, the club was rewarded at the end with the aforementioned seasons, and ultimately was able to trade Rios to the Rangers last August in exchange for Leury Garcia. Heading into the year, Rios’s option actually seemed likely to be picked up, which was quite a turnaround for that much-maligned extension. All said, over the life of the deal, Rios was worth just north of 15 wins above replacement (by the reckoning of both Fangraphs and Baseball-Reference).
I guess that’s what happens when you’re power numbers are down
2 MIL to go away… what a life
Why would any player agree to an option unless it had some sort of buyout?
doesn’t really change the logistics of it anyways. Is essentially only an $11.5MM option, since the $2MM is already out the door. The $2MM may be charged to this year, but logistically it was an expenditure from one of Rios’ previous seasons.
So whether they had the option or not doesn’t matter, it is money he should have made in a previous year that got backloaded.
Yeah, I tend to think of it as an end-of-contract bonus, or deferred compensation. That money is written in ink the moment the deal is done.
There are actually a decent number of these examples. Usually relatively small deals, of course, and at some level it hardly matters if it’s a meager buyout or none at all.
Right. Should’ve specified larger contracts.
The price of the option is reasonable. When he signed the original contract, the thought was he was a rising star. He had a combined 16.1 bWAR in 2006-2008. $13M, if he could sustain that level of production or even a marginally lower one, would be a decent price for a 34 year old.
Issue with Rios hasn’t necessarily been his overall stats. He will go almost dormant for long stretches.
i didn’t say he’s been a good player. What’s interesting about his deal is that people thought he was overpaid from the beginning, when he probably wasn’t, at least based on WAR. He never got better, and when he had a bad start to the 2009 season and Toronto put him on waivers, they let him go without compensation when chicago took the contract.
war will never be a great assessment for a player like Rios. I see little value in extremely streaky players on the whole. I’ve also been under the impression he’s not a great clubhouse presence. I realize that’s not a measurable stat… but it’s still potentially real.
Streaky hitters still valuable. You don’t want everyone on your team to be streaky, but if he helps you win 10 in a row, and then is part of losing 10 in a row, that is still a 0.500 record.
Very true…but having that in the middle of the order just kills. It just seems that the negative contribution outweighs the positive
The ironic part is that he will sign somewhere else and make much more money on top of those $2M
Common sense really.
4 home runs in nearly 500 at bats and less than 1 WAR isnt going to get you $13.5m.
He’ll be lucky to get upwards of $5m on the open market one suspects.
A player of each caliber is easily worth $10 million a year – especially with the large contracts these days. I imagine he might land a 2 year $21 million deal. His power is down but with his streakiness, he could get about 15 homers with a new environment. Also, his all-around game is solid and he can get on base a decent amount
I disagree. Yes, his power numbers were down, but so was his average (.280), OB% (only 23 walks), speed (17 SB’s) and RF defense (below average – grades). Rios is a decent/average player, who is terribly inconsistent, at best… I am unsure how that type of performance, which is far from solid, warrants “easily worth $10 million a year”…
Maybe it’s his name value that makes me believe he finds a good contract. And his presence on my fantasy teams might lead me to inflate his value
I have to disagree.
His age, plus his terrible 2014, i just dont see how that can possibly parlay into a 2 year deal with a $10m AAV anywhere.
Im sticking with my $5m tops call, hes got a lot to prove again has Rios.
Rasmus is predicted by MLBTR to get a 1 year $12 million deal. I’m sure Rios can at least get the same as him
I still don’t see that for Rasmus. That is a waste of money.
I’m thinking $6m with a 2nd year option of $8m and $1m buyout. I think he’s worth that considering he was a 3-4+ WAR player in 2012 & 2013!
That could well be a fair offer yes.
$7m guaranteed with the potential to earn $15m over the two years if he gets back to something like his 2013 self.
Rios is easily worth $10 mill? My guess is that he’s never played for a team you root for. He’s worth bout $4 mill. Actually, I wouldn’t want him on my team at all.
I’d guess a 2 year, $14mm deal for Rios
I agree but I think the 2nd year will be an option/buyout year with year 1 being around $6m and year 2 option being $8m with a $1m buyout. If he regains his 2012 & 2013 status his 2016 $8m option will be a nobrainer
I think he is someone the Mets could be targeting. They did not want to give up much for someone that was a half year rental player according to Sandy at deadline when they would cost nothing at deadline. He can play a good RF, can still hit, and wont break the bank. Plus he is a righty bat that can bat in the 5 spot. Plus, Sandy likes to buy low on players.
Buying low on a 28 year old is one thing. On a 34 year old, one of whose calling cards is speed … that’s another. I’d much rather have Cuddyer if you’re looking for a RF. If it’s LF you want you probably want to pass on both.
I believe that buying low on Marlon Byrd and RA Dickey paid off pretty well. And he is an all-around solid player, a 2 year 14-16 mm deal is pretty good. He had a bad season and hit .280 still. Which mets OF did that?
Well Dickey is the most special of all special cases. That doesn’t apply. And Byrd was a pretty freaky case you shouldn’t expect to repeat. The Mets can’t afford much more salary so if you sign Rios you’ll have to give up Murphy or Colon or Niese. Just doesn’t add up to improvement if you ask me. Rather pass on both him and Cuddyer and make an aggressive trade with someone like Wheeler. Get a young, cheap, better outfielder.
I am hoping the mets do NOT trade one of their young SP. Why would you trade wheeler?? I forgot, trading the one young SP that has been healthy and has pitched a full season without going on the DL is a great idea. Trade away Neise & Gee and get the OF you want. I would rather see the mets sign Rios or Aoki and trade Gee for prospects and continue to build on what they have in the system than trade for the mediocre OF they will get for him. Idk who you think you are getting for the OF that will be that much better than Rios or Aoki. Rios had 1 bad injury plagued season, he has been pretty darn good other than that in the last few years. I will take my chances with him or Aoki. The mets have more to spend than these projected numbers are.
Well, if your last sentence is true (I doubt it, since it never has been before) then sure, fine. Sign Rios AND Aoki. But if it isn’t, which is where I’m coming from, if you sign either of those guys you have to trade Murphy/Colon/Niese with no leverage. You get nothing to speak of. Also, if Wheeler is so good why do you only get a “mediocre OF” for him?
I did not say trade Wheeler for anyone. I said Gee. No need to sign 2 OF, just need one and one vet lefty arm for pen to compete with Rice and leathersich. Other than that, sign a backup MI (ramon Santiago) and a RH hitting backup OF (scott hairston). Trade Kirk and leave DD as 4th OF, cut EY, Tejada, Carlye, trade gee for prospects. Those are the cost cutting moves. Neise can be traded at deadline as can colon. Neither Aoki or Rios requires a lot of money or years.
Nelson Cruz will demand big money from someone.
Smart GMs would rather take a flier on Alex Rios.
But the big difference between the two is that Nelson Cruz has always been a credible power threat while Rios’ power seems to be waning and the only plus he originally had over Cruz (speed) is also down badly. It screams either poor work ethic (which might be true if some reports on his lackluster attitude in Chicago are to be believed) or a really bad regression that will be tough for someone 34 to come back from.
2012 & 2013 WAR is sitting in the 3-4 range each year. He picked a horrible year to have a bad year, in a contract year, so will have to settle for a pretty low 1yr deal to regain some value. He had 42 SB in 2013 and only 15 in 2014. He should have another couple years of 30-42 SBs.
Agreed, but Rios is going to come at a really low salary. With his late season thumb issue, being on the wrong side of 30, and a “low” 2014 WAR…I’m thinking the best thing he can do is take a 1yr contract in the 5-6m range to regain his value for next offseason.
A smart GM would try to get a 1ry deal with an option year just in case he puts up 2013 type numbers…maybe the contract type Seattle was rumored last offseason with Cruz ($7.5m with a $9m option low buyout)?!
I was under the impression that Rios’ buyout was worth only $1 million, not $2 million.
The rangers new right fielder is nick markaisias