Alex Rios set to rebound in 2010

[justBLAZE]

Sox counting on Rios to rebound after rough 2009

Hitting coach Greg Walker says a little rest and relaxation have helped restore Rios' swing.

Comments

 

January 19, 2010

BY JOE COWLEY [email protected]

 

Five swings.

 

That's all it took for Greg Walker to take a deep sigh of relief and realize that the enigma looked to be back to an All-Star.

» Click to enlarge image

The Sox are counting on Alex Rios to rebound after a disastrous 2009, and hitting coach Greg Walker says a little rest and relaxation have helped restore his swing.

(John J. Kim/Sun-Times)

 

 

PHOTO GALLERY

 

Alex Rios

 

 

No holes. No mechanical flaws. No signs of a player who was carrying the weight of the South Side on his shoulders.

 

Five swings.

 

And now the White Sox hitting coach is only looking ahead.

 

''This was the first I had seen him,'' Walker described of the three-day hitting session last week with Alex Rios in Miami. ''He got away from baseball for the first part of this offseason, and rightfully so. I thought the time would be good for him, that some time off would help cure some of the problems that developed last season.

 

''But to be honest, it took the first five swings in the cage to show me that he had passed the eye test. Mechanically, this is the Alex Rios I saw on tape when he was in Toronto.''

 

The Sox had better hope so.

 

• •

 

Forget under the radar. When general manager Ken Williams acquired Rios off the waiver wire from the Blue Jays last Aug. 10, shock was a better way to describe it.

 

''I had no idea,'' manager Ozzie Guillen insisted that day. ''I came in my office and saw a message from Kenny that said, 'We got Rios.' That was it.''

 

The only question that hung over the move was this: Did they acquire Rios and his gaudy $59.7 million contract that runs through 2014 on purpose or by accident? One school of thought was that Williams was trying to block another team from acquiring Rios and got stuck. Williams swore that he wanted Rios all along.

 

For better or worse, the two-time All-Star became property of the Sox -- and it couldn't have started any worse.

 

Rios played his first game Aug. 12 with the team in second place, two games out of the division lead. By the end of August, the Sox were in third, six games out -- dead team walking. Meanwhile, in his first 22 games with the Sox, Rios hit .154 with one home run and three RBI.

 

Now, months removed from that slump, Rios gave his first interview of the offseason to the Sun-Times.

 

''It was a combination of things, to be honest with you,'' Rios said. ''The things I wanted to do I wasn't doing right. I got into a bad place, started doing the wrong things. You tell yourself to get back to basics, but at that point it's hard to do.''

 

Walker and Guillen saw a hitter looking to play hero, trying to will a team across the finish line. He pressed, his mechanics got out of whack and then he looked lost. All Rios saw was a bunch of zeros in his box scores and losses piling up.

 

''It was tough,'' Rios said. ''But obviously it's behind me, I learned from it and this is a new year.''

 

There were more than a few meetings behind closed doors as last season came to an end, as well as after the season. The hot topic: What to do with Rios.

 

''There were some that felt we needed to change his mechanics,'' Walker said. ''I wasn't in that camp. I don't think he needs a change mechanically. We tried to attack the problems that developed late last season, but when that didn't work, we decided, 'Well, let's just give him some time off.' My hope was that the time away would be what he needed, and the two or three things he developed would disappear.''

 

Making sure Rios and Carlos Quentin were ready mentally for 2010 was priority 1A and 1B for Walker this winter. He visited Quentin in late October and was thrilled that Rios decided to fly to Miami last week and join Gordon Beckham, Alexei Ramirez and Dayan Viciedo in an unofficial minicamp.

 

Camp Cora -- put together by bench coach Joey Cora -- is supposed to give the younger infielders a chance to come together and work on their defense.

 

Rios wanted to make an appearance and show that his swing was where it needed to be and, more importantly, so was his head.

 

''It wasn't mandatory. He came there on his own,'' Walker said. ''He understands the situation. Alex knows how important he is for us. He's a bright kid. We'll get to know him, he'll get to know us and there will be a real comfort level that we really didn't obtain last year.

 

''He was thrown into a pennant race and was supposed to save us, and it didn't work out.''

 

The one question that Rios will have to answer, however, has to do with his mental toughness. In Toronto, the Blue Jays are below junior hockey and just above curling as far as the city's priorities.

 

On the South Side, it doesn't take long for open arms to become boos and screams of ''you suck!''

 

Rios has a very laid-back personality, almost Javy Vazquez-like at times. Almost.

 

''This is a new year for me, a new start,'' Rios said, sounding anything but laid-back. ''I'm here to win games and get this team to the playoffs. You can't put it all on one person. It's a team effort. I don't have any more pressure than the other 24. We all have to step up.''

 

What does Walker think?

 

''I'm not a psychiatrist, but I think he will be mentally tough enough to handle this,'' Walker said. ''You look at the history of baseball, of how many guys are brought in to save a team late in the season, I would bet that there is a high failure rate.

 

''Now he has time to get ready for a season. We have a lot of time to get to know each other.''

 

The plan for Rios is to keep his mechanics where they are for the next six weeks, bring them to spring training and have him ready to be a key figure in the outfield, as well as the middle of the lineup. If there is a slip in his swing, Walker is one phone call away.

 

''Like I said, I'm here to help this team,'' Rios said. ''We'll win games with our pitching and defense, but I'm a big fan of our offense.''

 

Walker has a similar opinion.

 

''I'm excited about having Alex in camp now,'' Walker said. ''This is the guy we [expected].''

 

Five swings showed Walker that

[southsider2k5]

The only question that hung over the move was this: Did they acquire Rios and his gaudy $59.7 million contract that runs through 2014 on purpose or by accident? One school of thought was that Williams was trying to block another team from acquiring Rios and got stuck. Williams swore that he wanted Rios all along.

 

The story has always been that they had been trying to work out a trade to get him, and they couldn't come to an agreement. Knowing the way Williams deals, I would bet money he was offering prospects in order to get TOR to put some cash into the deal. The question isn't whether we wanted Rios, it is if we wanted to give up good minor leaguers to get TOR to potentially throw in some cash, or if we would have been better in the long run getting him for nothing and paying full price.

[iamshack]

The story has always been that they had been trying to work out a trade to get him, and they couldn't come to an agreement. Knowing the way Williams deals, I would bet money he was offering prospects in order to get TOR to put some cash into the deal. The question isn't whether we wanted Rios, it is if we wanted to give up good minor leaguers to get TOR to potentially throw in some cash, or if we would have been better in the long run getting him for nothing and paying full price.

Probably so.

 

I sure hope he can get back to where he was.

Should he, it's like acquiring a young all-star caliber player that everyone has already forgotten about.

[greg775]

Now, months removed from that slump, Rios gave his first interview of the offseason to the Sun-Times.

 

Big deal. Congratulations on the interview.

 

Hopefully Rios will be a stud this year. Our lineup is counting on him big time.

[LittleHurt05]

Big deal. Congratulations on the interview.

 

Hopefully Rios will be a stud this year. Our lineup is counting on him big time.

 

As is KW, cause if Rios doesnt turn it around, that move is gonna haunt and follow him for years to come...

[Balta1701]

As is KW, cause if Rios doesnt turn it around, that move is gonna haunt and follow him for years to come...

It's more likely that Rios will haunt hitting coaches if he doesn't turn it around than KW.

[iWiN4PreP]

I am very optimistic about Rios this year, but if he don't turn it around this year - I don't think he ever will.

[Quin]

I am very optimistic about Rios this year, but if he don't turn it around this year - I don't think he ever will.

 

This. I understand one down year, but two can be worrisome

 

Man, I remember a few years ago when he was one of the best young talents in baseball. Hopefully he gets there again.

[35thstreetswarm]

It's more likely that Rios will haunt hitting coaches if he doesn't turn it around than KW.

 

He seems like a good bet to rebound. He's a TWO-TIME all-star at age 28. How many players have just suddenly become terrible with those kinds of credentials, at that age, where injury or steroids weren't obvious factors? (I'm really asking, because I can't think of many off-hand, at least in the last decade or so).

[ThunderBolt]

Well, if Greg Walker says it, it must be true. I think Rios will rebound, solid D, .270 AVG, and 15-20 HR's sounds about right.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Of course Walker is gonna say Rios is going to do well next year. What else is he gonna say? "Yea, we're spending millions on him over the next few years and we fully expect him to suck to high heaven,"

Edited January 20, 2010 by Athomeboy_2000

[Kyyle23]

Of course Coop is gonna say Rios is going to do well next year. What else is he gonna say? "Yea, we're spending millions on him over the next few years and we fully expect him to suck to high heaven,"

 

Coop can fix him?

[southsider2k5]

Of course Coop is gonna say Rios is going to do well next year. What else is he gonna say? "Yea, we're spending millions on him over the next few years and we fully expect him to suck to high heaven,"

 

There is a difference between saying this about Rios, and say Jermaine Dye.

[HuskyCaucasian]

Coop can fix him?

I have no idea where that came from! lol I fixed it.

[Texsox]

I'm just so jaded by anything Walker says. What is he really looking for? More of what we've been doing for the past five years?

 

 

[heirdog]

I'm confused if:

 

Rios came down, took five swings and left...leaving Walker pleased with what he saw

 

or

 

After 5 swings, Walker knew Rios' swing was perfect...and Rios continued to hit and hit well

 

 

Is there a metric to judge the performance of Hitting Coaches other than "objective observation." I would think one way is whether individuals remain in prolonged slumps. Granted its not all the hitting coach but seems like our guys stay in slumps for a long time (months as opposed to weeks) and don't get better until they "shut it down" (i.e. get away from Walker for awhile).