Will Rios Be Back?
Probably the biggest off season questions for the Calgary Pioneers is will Jose Rios be back next year. Rios has been the team’s starting 2B for the past 8 seasons. He has been a reliable 30 HR and 100 RBI performer, putting him among the best hitting 2B in the league. A herniated disc in his back on April 8th, changed all that.
Rios came back slow from his injury and had a mediocre June. Then he hit .278 in July and was back to his old self blasting away in August at a .312 clip with 6 HR and 17 RBIs. However, after September 1st he his under .200 and never hit a homer the rest of the year.
“Jose went down early in the year and we just never came back from it,” said manager Terry CochranTerry Cochran. “It is tough to replace a bat like his, the best right handed bat in the lineup. If he doesn’t get hurt we make the playoffs.”
The past is the past, the question is the future. It could be that he burned out with his hot August, or it could be that the injury was worse than the team thought and he succeeded that month on pure will. The team made some late season moves to pick up young infielders in anticipation that Rios may not be back. His $10 million cap hit is way too much to pay for a guy that hit the way he did this year.
