Rios. ??

[Hendrix]

Do you guys think he should be moved in the order? I know the old saying "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" but I wonder how much longer we can afford to be getting so little prodction from an important part of the order like 3-4. We seem to have guys mid/late order that are capible to fill that spot. With Hill, and Scutaro getting on base so much it feels wasted kinda when Rios comes up.

If he was starting to get his act together I'de understand a bit. But were 38 games into the year and his mechanics are still poor.

I might be crazy. But would it be terrible to move him to the 9 hole for a while, and Lind to the 3? No preasure down there so he can get his act together a bit. Would be nice to have his speed in the base path when he does get on with Scuttaro, Hill, Lind coming up.

Anyways. Just wondering if you think we should ride it out, or look to maybe make a switch. And what would it be?

[Geddy]

Putting him at 9 would be too much of an ego bruise and it probably would never happen.

I would Rather put Rios in 5th, Lind 4th and Wells 3rd.

[Kosta]

Cito is loyal to his players and Rios is a huge part of the team, I don't see him moving him anytime soon, he just has too much talent to keep slumping like this, only a matter of time, and when he does put it together, it's going to be well worth the wait. Being 25-14 doesn't hurt sitting back and waiting it out either, but he does need to get going soon with the schedule getting tougher.

[evilRyu]

i wouldn't touch a thing right now...... yeah, we all know Rios (and especially Wells) is not performing up to what we expect, but I'd give it more time. I'm much more worried about Vernon than Rios though.. Vernon is becoming like Guerrero where he is just swinging at EVERYTHING right now, and grounding into routine DP's

[Hendrix]

You're prob right about the 9 spot being too much of an ego crush. I was just trying to think of a possible advantage w/ our quickest player on base before the start of the order whike he's getting his stuff together.


Wells hasn't been great either. He's grounded into 2 more double plays then Rios, but I'm pretty sure that's just a by product of actually making contact with the ball more. Rios just strikes out.

But yeah neither one of these guys should be top 3 for at bats in the AL this year.

[hyper316]

cito is doing a great thing by instilling trust into his players. it takes off extra pressure from the batters.

[evilRyu]

i think if Rios would to be moved down the lineup, moving to 9th is way too drastic, and would not send the right message to the locker room (and other prospective players around the league).

Perhaps having him bat 5th or 6th if anything, but a true demotion to 9th would feel like a slap in the face, and would embarrass him

[EventHorizon]

I think Rios needs a change of scenery, package him with a pitching prospect for a power hitter.

[Avenger]

I would switch him with Hill at 2 and move Lind to the clean up spot and vernon down to 5
Scutaro
Rios
Hill
Lind
Vernon

[Raps in 4]

Rios has been pretty good lately, including a 2-4 game today and 2 RBI. I'm more concerned about Wells. I'd look to move him to a team that will eat up his contract, or at least a part of it.

[hyper316]

Rios has been pretty good lately, including a 2-4 game today and 2 RBI. I'm more concerned about Wells. I'd look to move him to a team that will eat up his contract, or at least a part of it.

yea this is true, rios seems to be picking it up now. the concern now is vernon. i hate how he chases so many balls low and away. he needs to see the ball better

[J-Roc]

This is how Cito works. If he moves Rios around, it doesn't just affect Rios negatively. Let's say Travis Snider moves up. Or even Adam Lind to the 4th hole. Now all of these players are thinking about how Rios got demoted when he struggled. And that puts pressure on them.

Also, our lineup isn't a regular 9-man lineup. Scutario isn't the leadoff base stealer. Hill is our power hitter. Lind is only our 5th hitter. But...it's all working. Runs don't just come from the top of the lineup. Every inning is a scoring threat because of the balance.

Bottom line is we need to accept Cito's quirks, because they work.

[hyper316]

big ups to rolen and barajas, those guys are hitting just over .300, pretty sweet for our 6th and 8th batter, respectively.

[Raps in 4]

Runs don't just come from the top of the lineup. Every inning is a scoring threat because of the balance.

Bottom line is we need to accept Cito's quirks, because they work.

+100