Run Rios Run!

Well Toronto was the centre of the baseball world again for a night (half a night thanks to the Rockies Troy Tutolowski hitting for the cycle) when the Jays decided that they would let the Chicago White Sox complete their waiver wire claim for Alexis Rios.

This was a complicated and delicate maneuver for the Jays. When players get put on the waiver wire after the trade deadline, teams have one of three options: remove the player from the waiver wire and keep him, work out a trade with the team that put in the waiver claim and third let the team who put in the waiver claim have him for nothing.

A player with the talents of Rios generally would not have been giving away for nothing. A two time all-star, and although he has been struggling this year, deep down he has the talent to be a 20/20 player which you don't find all the time. The concern that Jays fans had this year is that Rios was making alot of money and wasn't performing up to his salary. Rios signed his big deal less than two years ago and at that time he was paid like the big time player he was (all star, 20+ HRs and 85+ rbi's). The going rate was what he got paid. Now that the economic climate has changed slightly, Rios is considered overpaid - GROSSLY!

So was this the right move for the Jays - in my opinion it was. They got rid of a player that the fan base has turned on and unless he turned into the second coming of Carlos Delgado he would never have got that confidence back. The Jays shed 7 years and $68 million in salary by letting Rios go, which they say will allow them to have more flexibility in the offseason. Even if they don't spend all of the money, giving it to Rios wasn't the best plan.

Some fans are under the impression that White Sox general manager Ken Williams fleeced the Jays. Just hold on a second Sox fans. Williams said in his press conference after the waiver claim became official that he put the claim on Rios to rekindle negotiations with the Jays. That means he wanted to unload some salary of his own on the Jays. Although the Jays get nothing in return for Rios, that is actually better than adding an overpaid, ageing outfielder to the roster.

Toronto fans should wish Rios all the best. He has the talent to become an all-star again and hitting in the power packed White Sox line-up his numbers might take a turn for the better. What Toronto fans need to hope for is that the two times a year the Sox and Jays play that Rios has off nights. Like so many other ex. Jays will be seeing his name on highlight shows plenty.