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Reactions to the Alex Rios signing

Say hello to the second-highest paid Royals player.

By Max Rieper
Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports

After taking the first few weeks off, the Royals are making some moves, first by inking designated hitter Kendrys Morales last week, then signing right-fielder Alex Rios to a one-year deal last night. The internet had REACTIONS.

At least the Royals filled one of their major holes this off-season.

Ah yea, about that.

And it only costs us $17.5 million this year!

Dayton'd.

Sam Mellinger thinks Alex Rios is a "fine consolation prize", but a necessity considering the Royals long-term financial obligations.

The immediate fan reaction will be to call owner David Glass cheap, but if the Royals end up boosting payroll by 15 percent or so the truth is a bit more complicated.

Barring a payroll hike of 25 percent or so, the Royals are in many ways limited by the need to keep their own players in Kansas City. They have a lot of bills coming due.

Wade Davis, Alcides Escobar, Luke Hochevar and Morales will make around $8.5 million more in 2016 than 2015. That doesn’t include significant raises in arbitration for Greg Holland, Eric Hosmer, Mike Moustakas, Lorenzo Cain, Danny Duffy and Kelvin Herrera — all together, that’s at least $20 million or so in raises.

That makes long-term and big-money deals with free agents such as Santana or Cabrera more complicated, particularly if those players are hesitant to backload contracts.


Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/sam-mellinger/article4507279.html#storylink=cpy

Jeff Sullivan at Fangraphs writes signing Alex Rios as a bounce-back candidate is a gamble not likely to pay off.

Because it’s a one-year contract, it can be only so bad. Rios isn’t a great defender, but he’s not a bad one. He can add some value on the bases, and he still hits for an above-average contact clip, so in those ways Rios isn’t a lousy fit for the roster model. Used properly, he can help what’s already an athletic and capable outfield, and it’s not like the market left Dayton Moore an infinite supply of options. Also, note that Rios signed for one year and $11 million the same day Brett Anderson signed somewhere for one year and $10 million, with incentives. Cheap fliers aren’t so cheap anymore. But as good as Rios was once, he presumably will be no longer so good. And if Rios and Morales don’t bounce back, the Royals will have spent some of their windfall on players who weren’t good the very season before they became Royals. That would be ripe for mockery in hindsight, which is the best and worst kind of mockery.

Here's what Adam Morris at Lone Star Ball had to say about Rios when I spoke to him in June about the Royals trade interest in him.

Alex Rios is an interesting player, an enigma, a guy who seems to be surprisingly good while also being, in some ways, somewhat disappointing. He looks like the Platonic Form of an outfielder -- he just LOOKS the part of an athletic five-tool guy. He doesn't have any real glaring weaknesses in his game, he hits for power, and he's got speed (although, for whatever reason, he's been an awful percentage basestealer this year). He's a guy who is a solid starting right fielder on a championship team...

One of the writers for the Dallas Morning News calls him a "one gait player," someone who only has one speed, which is less than full speed, and says that scouts question his effort level. He's also not someone who seems to have good situational awareness -- he's a likely candidate to miss the cutoff man at the wrong time, or get thrown out going to third with two outs. I think the perception is that he's less valuable than the stats would indicate.

Craig Brown at Royals Authority doesn't like the move, but doesn't see any other good options

But here’s the money question: What should Moore have done to fill his Aoki-sized hole in right field? They scouted Yasmani Tomas, but didn’t win his services. They were in on Melky Cabrera, but he went to the South Side on a three-year deal. I never heard they were interested in Nick Markakis. There just weren’t many free agent options in this market.

Give us some optimism, Rany.

No, OPTIMISM!

Well at least we finally ditched Nori Aoki and got that big power hitter we wanted.

Oh.

Does Dayton Moore own stock in a Scott Boras company?

Scared yet, Detroit?

So, we're pretty much done.

And I will cling to that throughout this cold, cold winter.

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