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The Texas Rangers announced on yesterday that they have acquired Alex Rios from the Chicago White Sox.
The Rangers gave up a player to be named later for the outfielder, but it’s widely expected that infielder Leury Garcia will be the player headed to the Windy City. Garcia is currently on the Rangers’ 40-man roster and has to go through waivers before he can be traded.
In addition to Rios, the Rangers also picked up $1 million in cash as a part of the trade.
Rios will be inserted into sixth place on the Rangers batting order, and takes the place of Nelson Cruz as the team’s regular right fielder. Cruz is currently sitting out a 50-game suspension due to his involvement with performance-enhancing drugs.
Jon Daniels, the general manager of the Rangers, said Rios is a quality player as he’s good both offensively and defensively. Daniels added that Rios can throw and is also good at running the bases and will bring a lot to the team in the last third of the regular season and hopefully in the playoffs as well.
Daniels added he was interested in Rios even before Cruz was nailed with a suspension.
Rios still has one year to go on his present contract which will pay him $12.5 million next season. There’s also a club-option for the 2015 campaign, which is worth $13.5 million to him.
Daniels said the Rangers have a few players who are eligible for free agency at the end of this season, and it’s nice to know Rios is still under contract for another couple of years.
When the 32-year-old Rios joins the club, the Rangers will have to release either Engel Beltre or Joey Butler back to Triple-A ball. Rios said he’s looking forward to joining Texas since the team is in the hunt for a spot in the postseason.
The outfielder had slugged 12 home runs for the White Sox so far this season and added 55 RBIs while batting at a .277 clip. He also had 26 stolen bases with an on-base percentage of .328 and a slugging percentage of .421. He has eight outfield assists, which ties him for fifth best in the American league, and he’s tied for sixth in stolen bases.
Last season, Rios enjoyed career highs in home runs with 25, RBIs with 91 and a batting average of .304. In his 10-year Major League Baseball career, Rios has averaged 18 home runs a season along with 79 RBIs, 25 stolen bases, 107 strikeouts, 41 walks, six triples, 36 doubles and a batting average of .278.
He was chosen in the draft from his homeland of Puerto Rico in 1999 by the Toronto Blue Jays, where he was a two-time All-Star. He joined the White Sox in August of 2009 when they claimed him off of waivers from Toronto.
