| Alex Ríos | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
.jpg) Rios with the Kansas City Royals in 2015 | |||||||||||||||
| Right fielder /Center fielder | |||||||||||||||
| Born: (1981-02-18)February 18, 1981 (age 44) Coffee, Alabama, U.S. | |||||||||||||||
Batted: Right Threw: Right | |||||||||||||||
| MLB debut | |||||||||||||||
| May 27, 2004, for the Toronto Blue Jays | |||||||||||||||
| Last MLB appearance | |||||||||||||||
| October 4, 2015, for the Kansas City Royals | |||||||||||||||
| MLB statistics | |||||||||||||||
| Batting average | .277 | ||||||||||||||
| Home runs | 169 | ||||||||||||||
| Runs batted in | 794 | ||||||||||||||
Stats atBaseball Reference  | |||||||||||||||
| Teams | |||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||
Medals
| |||||||||||||||
Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981) is an American former professionalbaseballright fielder. He played inMajor League Baseball (MLB) for theToronto Blue Jays,Chicago White Sox,Texas Rangers, andKansas City Royals. AWorld Series champion with the Royals in2015, Rios is a two-timeMLB All-Star. In 2007, he was aFielding Bible Award winner for right fielders. In 2013, hehit for the cycle and achievedsix hits in one game. Rios is a three-timeWorld Baseball Classic participant with thePuerto Rico national baseball team.
Ríos was drafted in the first round (19th overall) by theToronto Blue Jays in the1999 MLB draft.[1] A top prospect in the Blue Jays organization for several years, Ríos had considerable success in the organization's minor league system. In2003, hehit .352 with 11home runs and 82RBI en route to winning the Double-AEastern League Most Valuable Player award.[2] Ríos was promoted to Triple-ASyracuse for the start of the2004 season and made the jump to the big leagues shortly thereafter.
He finished his rookie season with Toronto hitting .286 with one home run, 55runs and 28 RBI in 111 games.[3]
After his participation with the Puerto Rican team in theWorld Baseball Classic, Ríos began to show why the Blue Jays valued him so highly in his break-out 2006 season. By June 6, 2006, Ríos was first in the league in batting average (among qualified batters) with a .359 average, along with 11 home runs — a new personal best only 60 games into the 2006 season, and 43 RBI.[4] He then had his first multi-home run game on June 12, 2006, facing theBaltimore Orioles at theRogers Centre.[5] He was often given as an example of what is known inbaseball as a "five-tool player".
On June 27 against theWashington Nationals, Ríos fouled a ball off his foot, which resulted in astaph infection and a hospitalization. At the time, he was batting .330 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI for the Blue Jays.[6] In recognition of his outstanding third season in the majors, the young outfielder was rewarded with a spot as a reserve on the American League All-Star Team.[3] While Ríos did not play in the game due to the staph infection, he was invited to attend theAll-Star Game festivities during the July 10 weekend atPNC Park inPittsburgh.
On February 2, 2007, the Blue Jays and Ríos agreed to a one-year, $2.535 million contract to avoid salaryarbitration.[7] Ríos' performance earned him a spot as a reserve on the American LeagueAll-Star team[8] and he also agreed to participate in the2007 State Farm Home Run Derby. He led all competitors by hitting 19 home runs throughout the contest, but the final round was won byVladimir Guerrero of theLos Angeles Angels of Anaheim.[9]
Ríos fielded the last out in the All-Star Game. He led the team in all offensive categories during the first half of the season but slumped after the All-Star Break, with his hitting average settling to slightly below .300, and was overtaken by teammateFrank Thomas as HR and RBI leader . In 2007, he had the lowestrange factor of all major league right fielders, 1.82.[10] Ríos was honored with aFielding Bible Award as the best fielding right fielder in MLB.[11] He was voted theBlue Jays Player of the Year.
Rios signed a seven-year contract with the Blue Jays in April 2008 for a guaranteed amount of $69,835,000: $5.9 million in 2009, $9.7 million in 2010, $12 million each in 2011 and 2012 and $12.5 million each in 2013 and 2014.[12] He finished the 2008 season with a slight statistical decline: .291 average, 15 home runs, 32stolen bases, and 79 runs batted in.[3] The home run total tied him withLyle Overbay for the Blue Jays' second most home runs that season (onlyVernon Wells had more with 20). Ríos also set a career high in home runs after the All-Star Break that year.
On June 4 against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Ríosstruck out in all five of his plate appearances, also known as the platinum sombrero, in a 6–5 loss to the Angels at Rogers Centre. Later that day, Ríos was videotaped cursing a heckling fan after he walked past a child seeking an autograph while leaving a fundraising gala for the Jays Care Foundation. Ríos has since publicly apologized for the incident.[13]
TheToronto Blue Jays placed Ríos on waivers on August 7, 2009.[14] On August 10, 2009, Ríos was officially claimed off waivers by theChicago White Sox.[15]
After being claimed off of waivers by theChicago White Sox on August 10, Ríos batted .199, with three home runs, 9 RBI and a .296 on-base percentage in 146 at bats over 41 games.[3] Rios batted .284, with 21 home runs, 88 RBI and a .334 on-base percentage for the White Sox in 2010.[3] After a disappointing 2011 season in which he batted a career-low .227, Ríos rebounded to have one of his finest years in 2012, setting career highs with a .304 average, 25 home runs and 91 RBIs.
On July 9, 2013, Rios collected six hits in a game (tied AL record) in an 11–4 win over the Tigers.[16] Ríos was the starting right fielder for 2013 until his trade. After the trade,Jordan Danks andAvisail García took over. In 599 games over five years for Chicago, he hit .269/.310/.430 with 74 home runs, 287 RBI, and 99 stolen bases.
On August 8, 2013, Ríos was claimed off waivers by theTexas Rangers, and was traded to them on August 9 for a player to be named later or cash considerations.[17]Leury Garcia was announced as the player to be named later on August 11.[18] He became the team's starting right fielder, replacing the suspendedNelson Cruz. Rios hit for the cycle against the Houston Astros on September 23, 2013.[19] In all of 2013, Ríos hit .278/.324/.432 with 18 home runs, 81 RBI and 42 stolen bases.[3] For the 2014 season, he batted .280 with four home runs, 54 RBI and 17 stolen bases in 131 games.[3] The Rangers declined Ríos' option for the 2015 season on October 15, 2014, making him a free agent.[20]
Ríos signed a one-year contract with theKansas City Royals on December 19, 2014, worth $9.5 million. The contract included an option for the 2016 season.[21]
In his Royals debut on April 6, 2015, Ríos hit a three-run home run in a 10–1 win to cap off a three-hit game.[22] For the 2015 season, Ríos hit .255 with four home runs and 32 RBI while appearing in 105 games.[3] While he had a down year with Kansas City, Ríos had many notable moments in the 2015 MLB playoffs. In Game 4 of the2015 American League Division Series, Ríos hit a leadoff single in the top of the eighth inning, sparking a five-run inning that erased a four-run deficit and forced a Game 5 of the series. In Game 5, he hit a two-RBI double in the bottom of the fifth inning, driving in what proved to be the winning runs of the game. Ríos was just as pivotal in the2015 American League Championship Series, batting .368 with a home run and three runs batted in.[3] At the end of the season, the Royals won theWorld Series, giving Ríos his first championship ring.[23]
On November 4, 2015, Ríos' option was declined by the Royals, and he received a $1.5 million buyout.[24]
Rios participated in the2013 World Baseball Classic playing forPuerto Rico. Although Rios slumped for most of the tournament, he hit a clutch two-run home run againstJapan in the semifinals and handed Puerto Rico its first WBC Finals appearance.[25] They would go on to be defeated byDominican Republic 3–0 in the finals.
| Achievements | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Hitting for the cycle September 23, 2013 | Succeeded by |
