Alex Rios' days as a Texas Ranger aren't definitely over, but his future in Arlington is definitely clouded after the Rangers decided, as expected, to decline their club option on the veteran outfielder after his disappointing second half of the 2014 season. He will now be a free agent.
Rios hit .280 with a .709 OPS last season for the Rangers and had just four home runs — by far a career-worst season in terms of power outside of his rookie year in 2004. Despite the power outage, Rios was near the top of the league in hitting and led the league in triples through the all-star break, but then floundered in a big way over the second half and missed the final few weeks with a thumb injury.
In fact, after the break, Rios hit just .211 with an unsightly .528 OPS and he finished the year with just 17 stolen bases after topping 40 in 2013.
It was unfortunate to see Rios' season tank because for a while there, it looked like he'd be a bargain as a starting corner outfielder in 2015 at $13.5 million, but that thought quickly dissolved. He could still be back in Arlington, and even went as far as to say he'd be willing to take a pay cut to stay, but it would have to be the right price for the Rangers to take him on for a multi-year deal.
