The Texas Rangers announced they will decline a $14 million-dollar team option on outfielder Alex Rios for the 2015 season, and will instead pay him a $2 million buyout after Rios slumped badly in the second half.
It’s not a surprise, but the Texas Rangers won’t pick up a team option on outfielder Alex Rios’s 2015 season for $14 million, and will pay him a $2 million buyout instead following a poor season from the 33-year old outfielder which saw his power evaporate.
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Rios was hampered by injuries to his ankle and thumb throughout the 2014 season, and Rios’s entire game suffered as a result. He hit four home runs all season, down from 18 in 2013, and didn’t hit any of those four home runs in the second half of the season. He batted .280, but with a poor .311 OBP and some of his batting average might have been helped by a high batting average on balls in play (BABIP), at .335.
Using advanced metrics, Rios was even worse, at 0.2 fWAR on the season, and Rios’s value came almost entirely on the basepaths (0.5 BsR, or Base running runs above average) and though Rios hasn’t been a good fielder since his days with the Toronto Blue Jays, he took another step back this season, costing the Rangers with a -3 DRS (Defensive Runs Saved). In standard metrics, Rios made six errors.
Rios will almost assuredly get a contract from a MLB team, as offense is down across the game and Rios has shown he’s been able to hit in the past. But he’ll likely have to settle for a one-year deal, as he’s going to need to prove he can still hit in 2015.
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