Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Target: About That Alex Rios Guy

Jun 1, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Chicago White Sox infielder Alexei Ramirez (10) slides safely into third base on a hit by outfielder Alex Rios (not pictured) against the Oakland Athletics in the first inning at O.Co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

When searching for dream scenarios of possible players the Pittsburgh Pirates might want to add at the trade deadline, we had a few considerations, and after looking at rosters we saw the name Alex Rios coming up quite a bit.  The Pittsburgh Pirates have talked about the importance of getting production from right field, but Neal Huntington did say that getting Jose Tabata a cluster of at-bats is just that, it’s not a tryout.

We think it’s more like this….Jose, you have a few weeks to show us you still got it.  Cool?  Okay, thanks.

We aren’t a big fan of adding a veteran just to add a veteran, so take this post for what it is…  If the veteran presence thing is important to the decision makers on Federal Street, we will play along.

So putting on our Neal Huntington hat, we looked a bit closer at Alex Rios.  The money isn’t way out there, but if the team is going to take on salary, shouldn’t it be for a player that is showing considerable production?

Rios has seven extra base hits in his past 124 at-bats.

In his past ten games, Rios is hitting .179.

When looking back at Rios, it’s really hard to forget his 2011 campaign.  It was ugly with only 13 homers, 44 RBIs and 64 runs scored, Rios changed his stance more than he could even remember.  Rios bounced back in 2012 with an increase in his line drive rate and also his HR/FB rate of 12.6 was the highest of his career as he launched 25 bombs.

In 2013, he sits at 11 homers, but….

Rios has one home run since May 17.

Rios hasn’t hit a homer since June 9.

The strikeout rate of 17.7 percent is a jump to 2004 and 2005 levels for Rios which is still below league average, but it’s a worrisome sign for us.  Especially since the batting average is very hollow lately.

So let’s keep an eye on Rios as the trade deadline approaches, but right now if we were pulling the trigger, we would slide our finger down to put it on safe.  We aren’t pulling the trigger on a deal for Rios after watching his performance the past .   The bad Alex Rios just might be rearing his head once again.