Алексис Риос: Америкалық бейсболшының мансабы

American baseball player (born 1981)

Alexis Israel Ríos (born February 18, 1981) is an American former professional baseball right fielder. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago White Sox, Texas Rangers, and Kansas City Royals. A World Series champion with the Royals in 2015, Rios is a two time MLB All Star. In 2007, he was a Fielding Bible Award winner for right fielders. In 2013, he hit for the cycle and achieved six hits in one game. Rios is a three time World Baseball Classic participant with the Puerto Rico national baseball team.

Ríos was drafted in the first round (19th overall) by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 1999 MLB draft. A top prospect in the Blue Jays organization for several years, Ríos had considerable success in the organization's minor league system. In , he hit .352 with 11 home runs and 82 RBI en route to winning the Double A Eastern League Most Valuable Player award. Ríos was promoted to Triple A Syracuse for the start of the season and made the jump to the big leagues shortly thereafter.

He finished his rookie season with Toronto hitting .286 with one home run, 55 runs and 28 RBI in 111 games.

After his participation with the Puerto Rican team in the World Baseball Classic, Ríos began to show why the Blue Jays valued him so highly in his break out 2006 season. By June 6, 2006, Ríos was first in the league in batting average (among qualified batters) with a .359 average, along with 11 home runs — a new personal best only 60 games into the 2006 season, and 43 RBI. He then had his first multi home run game on June 12, 2006, facing the Baltimore Orioles at the Rogers Centre. He was often given as an example of what is known in baseball as a "five tool player". On June 27 against the Washington Nationals, Ríos fouled a ball off his foot, which resulted in a staph infection and a hospitalization. At the time, he was batting .330 with 15 home runs and 53 RBI for the Blue Jays. In recognition of his outstanding third season in the majors, the young outfielder was rewarded with a spot as a reserve on the American League All Star Team. Ríos' performance earned him a spot as a reserve on the American League All Star team and he also agreed to participate in the 2007 State Farm Home Run Derby. He led all competitors by hitting 19 home runs throughout the contest, but the final round was won by Vladimir Guerrero of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. Ríos fielded the last out in the All Star Game. He led the team in all offensive categories during the first half of the season but slumped after the All Star Break, with his hitting average settling to slightly below .300, and was overtaken by teammate Frank Thomas as HR and RBI leader In 2007, he had the lowest range factor of all major league right fielders, 1.82. Ríos was honored with a Fielding Bible Award as the best fielding right fielder in MLB. He was voted the Blue Jays Player of the Year.

Rios signed a seven year contract with the Blue Jays in April 2008 for a guaranteed amount of $69,835,000: $5.9 million in 2009, $9.7 million in 2010, $12 million each in 2011 and 2012 and $12.5 million each in 2013 and 2014. He finished the 2008 season with a slight statistical decline: .291 average, 15 home runs, 32 stolen bases, and 79 runs batted in. The Toronto Blue Jays placed Ríos on waivers on August 7, 2009. On August 10, 2009, Ríos was officially claimed off waivers by the Chicago White Sox.

After being claimed off of waivers by the Chicago White Sox on August 10, Ríos batted .199, with three home runs, 9 RBI and a .296 on base percentage in 146 at bats over 41 games. Ríos was the starting right fielder for 2013 until his trade. After the trade, Jordan Danks and Avisail García took over. In 599 games over five years for Chicago, he hit .269/.310/.430 with 74 home runs, 287 RBI, and 99 stolen bases.

On August 8, 2013, Ríos was claimed off waivers by the Texas Rangers, and was traded to them on August 9 for a player to be named later or cash considerations. Leury Garcia was announced as the player to be named later on August 11. He became the team's starting right fielder, replacing the suspended Nelson Cruz. Rios hit for the cycle against the Houston Astros on September 23, 2013. In all of 2013, Ríos hit .278/.324/.432 with 18 home runs, 81 RBI and 42 stolen bases.

Ríos signed a one year contract with the Kansas City Royals on December 19, 2014, worth $9.5 million. The contract included an option for the 2016 season. In his Royals debut on April 6, 2015, Ríos hit a three run home run in a 10–1 win to cap off a three hit game. For the 2015 season, Ríos hit .255 with four home runs and 32 RBI while appearing in 105 games. On November 4, 2015, Ríos' option was declined by the Royals, and he received a $1.5 million buyout.

Rios participated in the 2013 World Baseball Classic playing for Puerto Rico. Although Rios slumped for most of the tournament, he hit a clutch two run home run against Japan in the semifinals and handed Puerto Rico its first WBC Finals appearance. They would go on to be defeated by Dominican Republic 3–0 in the finals.