LestersLegends.com

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When Alex Rios hit .163 in April the panic button looked tempting. Now we’re approaching Memorial Day and his average stands at .210. What’s worse, the player that hit 21 home runs with 34 stolen bases has just four of each this year.
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Not only is panic setting in, its cousin anger is tagging along. Rios was supposed to be one of the top outfield choices this year and he’s on pace for a .210- 81-13-42-13 campaign. Yikes. Before you begin to craft your hate mail, I urge you to settle down.
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Rios was terrible that first month. Brutal actually. That kind of hole takes time to dig out of. He’s not setting the world ablaze, but he is hitting .269 in May. That’s more than a 100 point improvement. Three of his home runs have come this month as well, helping his OPS improve by .261.
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Alex struggled mightily in 2009, which helped him land in Chicago in the first place. He hit .247 that year with 63 runs, 17 HRs, 71 RBI, and 24 SBs. His BABIP had always been .309 or better, but it dipped to .273 that year. Maybe he just struggled with the adjustment. Maybe getting put on waivers bruised his ego. Maybe he just went into a shell after his altercation with a fan was caught on videotape.
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Whatever the reason, Rios bounced back last year. His BABIP (.306) came along for the ride.
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It’s way down this year. I’m talking way, way down for a guy with his speed. It is .219 to be exact. He’s usually around 100 points higher. Will he bounce back to .300? Unlikely. Not after 50 games are in the books. He could, however, have a .300 BABIP from here on out. July (.297 average, .799 OPS) has historically been his second best month behind May (.297 average, .850 OPS). Of course August and September are his two worst months so the struggles could continue, but maybe he got them out of the way early this year.
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Whatever the case, Rios is trending in the right direction and the odds of improved luck are in his favor. It’s a good time to try to buy low on him. If you already have him, it’s a good time to hold (unless you get a Godfather type offer that you can’t refuse). That way you get to reap the benefits of the rebound rather than your competition.
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Also check out:

• Should You Buy Low on Chris Carpenter?
• Can Kyle McClellan Continue to Shine?
• Is Ian Kinsler a Good Trade Target?
• Can Dan Uggla Turn Around His Ugly Season?
• Should You Buy Low on Andrew McCutchen?

The White Sox made another splash by claiming Alex Rios off of waivers.  They will eat the rest of his contract, and though Toronto doesn’t get any compensation, they get that deal off their books.  He just signed a nearlyy $70 million deal in 2008.  It is unclear if they will use the saving to try and secure a long term deal with ace Roy Halladay.

While the move is great for the White Sox in reality, giving them plenty of depth, it hurts five players fantasy values.  The White Sox now have four capable Outfielders in Rios, Jermaine Dye, Carlos Quentin, and Scott Podsednik.  They all will see an adjustment in the number ABs they will get in a given week.  Also likely to lose ABs in the deal is DH Jim Thome.  If you are counting on any of these players, you will have to stay on top of the White Sox’s lineup cards to make sure your guy is playing.  If you set your lineup on a weekly basis, pay attention to how the playing time is trending.

Tuesday, June 24th
Chad Tracy and Scott Rolen each drove in 4 Runs.  Marco Scutaro and Alex Rios (3 RBI) each had 4 Hits.  Yadier Molina, Robinson Cano, Freddy Sanchez (3 Runs), Kenji Johjima, Fernando Tatis, Brian Schneider, Torii Hunter, Ryan Doumit, Adam La Roche, Akinori Iwamura, Dewayne Wise, Brian Roberts, Lyle Overbay (3 Runs), and Raul Ibanez (3 RBI) each had 3 Hits.  Gregg Zaun, Richie Sexson, Jim Edmonds, Emil Brown, and Mike Napoli each had 3 RBI.

R.A. Dickey allowed 6 Hits in 7 scoreless Innings to improve to 2-3.  A.J. Burnett gave up 1 Run on 4 Hits in 7 Innings with 7 Ks to even his record at 7-7.  Jonathan “Filthy” Sanchez gave up 1 Run on 5 Hits in 7-2/3 Innings with 8 Ks to improve to 7-4 with a 3.98 ERA.  Aaron Laffey gave up 1 Run on 4 Hits in a 6-2/3 Inning no-decision.  Dave Bush gave up 1 Run on 4 Hits to improve to 4-7.  Scott Olsen gave up 2 Runs on 4 Hits in a 7 Inning no-decision.  Brian Moehler gave up 1 Run on 5 Hits in 6-1/3 Innings to improve to 4-3.  Eric Hurley gave up 2 Runs in 6 Innings, but took the Loss.  Zack Greinke gave up 3 Runs in 6 Innings with 10 Ks to improve to 7-4 with a 3.40 ERA.  Mark Buehrle gave up 1 Run in 8 Innings to improve to 5-6.  Joe Blanton gave up 1 Run on 4 Hits in 7 Innings to improve to 4-10.  Jamie Moyer gave up 3 Runs in 6-2/3 innings with 9 Ks, but took the Loss.  Kevin Slowey gave up 4 Hits in 6 scoreless Innings, but got a no-decision.  Jake Peavy gave up 1 Run in 6 Innings with 6 Ks, but also didn’t factor in the decision.