Blake Murphy Sports Writing

Title: Waiver Claim Made on Rios; Jays Have to Decide
Date: August 7, 2009
Original Source: The On Deck Circle
Synopsis: After the Jays had placed overpaid outfielder Alex Rios on waivers, he was shockingly claimed by the White Sox, leaving the Jays with a tough (not really) decision to make on Rios’ future.

According to ESPN, a team has made a waiver claim on Jays’ right fielder Alex Rios. While the details of such a waiver claim can confuse some fans, it is common practice for several hundred players to go through waivers after the trade deadline – it allows the player to be traded past the deadline, and in rare cases, this situation comes up.

The team is undisclosed (per league rules), and the Jays have until Tuesday to make a decision. And it will certainly be a tough one. While Rios has irritated some fans with an apparent laziness in the outfield and a less-than-friendly off-field demeanor, he is a young and talented player on a team without any true stars.

The Jays have three options per league rules:
1) They can pull him off of waivers, like it never happened.
2) They can trade him to the team that made a claim on him.
3) They can let him go. Completely. For nothing in return. But the other team would absorb his entire contract.

Option 1 is generally what happens in these cases, with Option 2 being the next most common. Option 3 is extremely rare, but the Jays have a tough decision on their hands.

On one hand, Rios is under a large contract and the Jays are a team in financial stress with another albatross contract roaming the outfield in Vernon Wells. They may jump on the opportunity to shed the six years, $63.2M left on Rios’ deal after this year (plus about $2M for the remainder of this year). It’s a huge financial win if a team is willing to take him off their hands, and it may allow them some payroll flexibility moving forward.

At the same time, Rios is a good player. Believe me, he actually is. While his numbers aren’t anything special right now, he’s technically a 0.9 Wins Above Replacement player. This is small potatoes for a $10m+ contract though, with an actual value of about $4M. His wOBA is lacking because of his near-career low .728 OPS and a career low 5.7 speed score (still very strong though), making him worth -2.2 runs on offense. But his fielding has been acceptable (roughly league average, better in center), and this is a player with a track record already at age 28.

While he may have peaked, he is a better player than he has shown this year. Over the past three years he’s been worth 13.4 Wins Above Replacement and was essentially given less than fair value with his monster extension (at the time). For his career, he is well above average in center and in right, and his offense combines a nice home run-stolen base skill set. He definitely needs to walk more, and his approach at the plate leaves something to be desired, but this is someone who was pegged as a franchise three-hitter as recently as last season.

Personally, I’m torn on what the Jays should do. Rios has been a personal favorite of mine for years, and I do think he’s a much better player than 2009 has shown, but that is a great deal of extra financial flexibility for a team that desperately needs it.

So I leave it to you…what should the Jays do?

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