Ugh. I hate Alex Rios. It hurts me soul, Lupe Fiasco, to write this post. Unfortch, I gotta point out Alex Rios because of his terrible 2011 has made him underrated. I’m just going to write the rest of this post and then pretend like it never happened if he disappoints again. You know, like Matthew Berry would. Last year, Rios put up a line of 64/13/44/.227/11. That looks a lot like the line you get if Darwin Barney is pinch-running for Adam Dunn every time he gets on base. Rios had a career worst year in average, steals, RBIs and walk rate. Also, his worst power year in 7 years (since his sophomore year) and worst Isolated Power since his rookie year. The only thing he didn’t do last year on the negative side of things was verbally attack your grandmother while defecating on your favorite team jersey. Though I’m sure he would’ve if he knew where you or Gramsie lived. So what can we expect of Alex Rios of 2012 fantasy baseball and what makes him (ugh) a sleeper?
Alex Rios also had a career low BABIP. He’s not exactly a .330 BABIP hitter, but, if all things are right in the world and that little cubbyhole that you call a man cave, Rios should hit .270. His line drives weren’t terrible last year and his fly balls were around where they’ve been in the past. His power likely isn’t much more than the 15-17 homer range rather than the 21 or 24 homers he hit in 2010 and 2007, respectively. That’s okay. He’s not hitting 25 homers again. Because he never did. His high was 24. C’mon, man, I fooled you pretty easily there. The bigger concern is the lack of steals last year…. Until you consider he had an injured foot. I think he has one more 20+ steal season in his gams. My biggest concern with Rios is he doesn’t seem to care. I hate that. Apathy is the biggest killer in fantasy. Assuming he just does what comes naturally and doesn’t need to care too much, he can put up a line of 75/17/85/.270/22. Not exactly dazzling but, when you look at him being drafted after some schmohawks as Delmon Young, Johnny Damon and Alfonso Soriano, you start to realize how he’s a sleeper. Now let’s pretend this post never happened.
