The Chicago White Sox Snatch Alex Rios Away From Blue Jays

In "How the Economy has affected Major League Baseball," part 1,873, Alex Rios is now a member of the South Siders—the Chicago White Sox. Rios was claimed on waivers this past weekend by the Sox and the Blue Jays agreed to let him walk yesterday while the Sox will assume the rest of Rios’ nearly $70 million contract. Purely from a baseball standpoint, this is a great move for the Sox. Nothing against Scott Podsednik, but Rios is a superior player at the plate and above-average in the field, and while he is having a below-average offensive season, most of that is driven by bad luck. Currently Rios has his lowest wOBA since 2005, largely driven by the lowest BABIP figure of his career. While Scotty Pods has outperformed expectations, White Sox center fielders still only have a .269 wOBA on the year. Rios easily surpasses that and if he can get back to last year’s form, he could be one of the best pickups of the year. The drawback, however, is the money ques...