We Got Wood - 43.44 - Rios Wants Out

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One of the biggest regretting move General Manager Chris Wilson made this off-season will likely go down as the team's acquisition of Jose Rios. At the time of the acquisition, Portland wasn't considering a chance at being competitive in 2043. Yes, some young rookies were going to debut but the team didn't feel it had the pieces to make a significant run this season. So with tons of cap space available, the club decided to take some free cash and bring on the popular Rios to help keep fan interest high and maybe give the once great player a chance to be re-born. Of course the big trade with Edmonton shifted focus and now the club has Rios, and his $10 million salary stuck on the payroll. And Rios wants out!

"I deserve to play everyday" said Rios in a recent post-game interview to reporters. "I proved that with Calgary and should be proving it here in Portland as well. If they aren't going to play me everyday, I want out of here" Rios concluded with reporters.

Rios has not exactly shown it on the field. Rios has been getting platoon starts at 2B against left handed pitching and has performed horribly. Rios has just 2 hits in 34 at-bats for a .059 batting average. Maybe that could be suitable if he were drawing a ton of walks, but he has just 3 for a .179 on base percentage. His defense is slightly above average, but he's not good enough there to make up for the poor offense.

"We'd love to trade Rios" said assistant General Manager Ted Dunn. "But there aren't going to be any takers for a guy making $10 million and batting below .100. He should probably be happy he's even getting any playing time. Why Pedro Medina (Portland manager) hasn't put in Nikita Schipper yet is beyond me."

The club still has 1-2 weeks left of waiting for Tomas Valadez to return from the injured list. Odds are, when he does, Rios will see his playing time reduced even more. Which will likely only upset the 28 year old even further.