Rios claimed on Waivers

[Garmfay]

The Blue Jays, it appears, have three options, and must make a decision by next Tuesday, because the waiver period will roll through the weekend:

• They could work out a trade with the team that claimed Rios.
• They could pull him back from waivers, and keep him for themselves the rest of this season.
• They could simply allow the team that claimed him to take him, at no cost.

According to MLBtraderumors.

Hopefully they can rid his contract like the Rolen deal

[Avenger]

wow, this came out of nowhere. I'm a big fan of Rios but i don't know what to do with his contract. His contract isn't that bad cause he's at worst hitting consistently around .800OPS(save for this year), stealing a lot of bases and could play great defence as a center fielder. I understand people don't like his seemingly lackadaisical approach to the game but he's a good player who still has a chance to be a great player if he realizes his potential. I would hate to lose him for nothing.

People have to remember one thing, Vernon Wells is already the worst center fielder defensively in baseball. He's only gonna get worse as he ages, we could move Rios to CF and his .800 OPS and 30 SB's would make his contract worth it.

[Garmfay]

Same, I hope we can pick up good prospects like the Rolen deal.

[Michael Bradley]

I wonder how that will work. Rios has a full no trade clause in 2009 and 2010. If they try to work out a deal with the team that claimed him, I would assume Rios could still reject it. Whereas if they just dump him to whichever team claimed him then I am guessing Rios does not have a choice. Will be interesting to see how that works out.

The team that claimed him would be on the hook for the remainder of 2009 plus the $60 million he is owed until 2015. I think Rios is too good of a player to dump for nothing, but if the Jays are really financially strapped, it would not surprise me if they just cut bait.

[youngLion]

Rios' deal is a steal compared to Wells. The team can't afford to just give him away.

If anybody claimed Wells I would jump for joy though.

[Test of Wills]

Hopefully we can pickup some assets for Rios. He is a good defensive outfielder and a above-average base-stealer but his batting has been putrid.

If we keep him then so be it but Rios needs a lot of work.

[TR50]

Can't wait til it says Rios is a Red Sock/Yankee

lol

[Schad]

wow, this came out of nowhere. I'm a big fan of Rios but i don't know what to do with his contract. His contract isn't that bad cause he's at worst hitting consistently around .800OPS(save for this year), stealing a lot of bases and could play great defence as a center fielder. I understand people don't like his seemingly lackadaisical approach to the game but he's a good player who still has a chance to be a great player if he realizes his potential. I would hate to lose him for nothing.

People have to remember one thing, Vernon Wells is already the worst center fielder defensively in baseball. He's only gonna get worse as he ages, we could move Rios to CF and his .800 OPS and 30 SB's would make his contract worth it.

This is pretty standard stuff...many teams will run a bunch of players through waivers after the deadline to gauge interest. I don't like the idea of a Rios trade given the fact that Wells might be far-and-away the worst defensive CF in the league by next year (and is only going to get worse), especially with his value bottoming out, but if Rogers is looking to cut costs it might be a necessity.

[Michael Bradley]

Players going through waivers this time of year is standard, but the Jays are in a position now where they may have to sell talent away to save money, so if a player like Rios or Overbay or Downs gets claimed, it is a pretty big deal. At this time last year if Rios got claimed, then I would agree it is just a standard issue and nothing would come out of it, but now I am not so sure.

[zilby]

gasp!

did not see this coming.

[Brinbe]

I don't think we should let him go because although he hasn't been playing great, his contract is still reasonable... And I'm pretty sure we've thrown Wells out there for a few years now, but unsurprisingly there haven't been any takers.

[15th overall]

The local radio guys here in boston were following this story, speculating that the sox were the mystery team. But theyve just reported a few minutes ago that the Sox arent in on this.

[Hoopstarr]

Alex Rios is not overpaid, especially if he plays CF, which he should be doing right now instead of the worst CF in baseball--Vernon Wells. I don't think it'll actually happen but I can see the Yankees or Cubs trading for him. If Rogers is trying to shed salary so they can reinvest it in the winter for a big bat, by all means trade him. But if they're just gonna pocket the savings, then screw them, I'd rather keep Rios.

Move him to CF!

[-MetA4-]

I don't think we should let him go because although he hasn't been playing great, his contract is still reasonable...

Its not reasonable at all: Rios' contract is going to jump to just under $10 million in 2010 and then it is going to sit around $12.5 million a year for its remaining life.

[alpha]

could Vernon be next???(prays)

[-MetA4-]

could Vernon be next???(prays)

Uggghhhh, NO.

No one is going to touch Vernon Wells' contract. Dont even get your hopes up.

[SharoneWright]

Its all coming true.

The ensuing carnage that includes the loss of Rios and the eventual unloading of Halladay all relates back to one thing and one thing only... Vernon Wells' contract will single-handedly define the Blue Jays and their ability to field a team until the end of 2014. We will have a fat left fielder in 2011, 2012, 2013,and 2014 hitting .232 and a bunch of "eager kids" with no hope in hell.

[Schad]

Players going through waivers this time of year is standard, but the Jays are in a position now where they may have to sell talent away to save money, so if a player like Rios or Overbay or Downs gets claimed, it is a pretty big deal. At this time last year if Rios got claimed, then I would agree it is just a standard issue and nothing would come out of it, but now I am not so sure.

Yeah, agreed...as I said, if he gets dumped, it's a harbinger of things to come, likely indicating some pretty aggressive cost-cutting by Rogers.

And Overbay probably would follow in such a scenario (if they could move him, and throw Dopirak to the wolves). but I'll be furious if they trade Downs for less than a premium package, which he wouldn't command from anything less than an extremely desperate team. He's quite likely to hit Type-A next year (the threshold being pretty low for relievers), and that plus a year of good work in relief is worth $4m in my eyes.

[youngLion]

Its all coming true.

The ensuing carnage that includes the loss of Rios and the eventual unloading of Halladay all relates back to one thing and one thing only... Vernon Wells' contract will single-handedly define the Blue Jays and their ability to field a team until the end of 2014. We will have a fat left fielder in 2011, 2012, 2013,and 2014 hitting .232 and a bunch of "eager kids" with no hope in hell.

Yeah it's pretty frightening. Wells' contract might doom the team's chances until it expires. I ranted about it in this thread earlier in the season. Back then I predicted that Wells could still be an 85-95 RBI guy, but after this season I doubt he can be that productive anymore. It just keeps getting worse.

[Garmfay]

I wonder which team claimed him? Apparently its not the Red Sox or Mets. I think its either the White Sox, Giants or Tigers