Alex Rios has turned into a $10-million embarrassment for the Toronto Blue Jays. Never mind...

Alex Rios has turned into a $10-million embarrassment for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Never mind that he plays the outfield with a not-so-reckless indifference. Never mind that he has taken his five-tool gifts and squandered them with his lack of passion and apathy. Never mind that the hitting numbers aren't anywhere near where they are supposed to be.

All that pales when compared with his foolish act of the other night, exchanging swear words with a fan after turning down an autograph request from a kid, at a charity event no less. Available in today's technology for all to see on YouTube.

Whether management will see it this way or not, Rios essentially is done as a Blue Jay. Failing on the field can be accepted. Failing off the field reflects a certain lack of character. All the apologies in the world may not be able to correct that.

http://www.torontosun.com/sports/columnists/steve_simmons/2009/06/07/9703471-sun.html

over 2 years ago mavadjdj 9 comments 0 recs |

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Steve Simmons

I think is mostly a punk, but is he right?

by mavadjdj on Jun 9, 2009 9:32 AM EDT reply actions

I don't think so....

I guess I see it different than that guy. I figure if a jerk is yelling at you on the street it might piss you off some. Not that his reaction was right but it was understandable.

I hate when guys decide a player has a ‘lack of passion’. How does this guy know that? Alex slugged over .500 last month, that means he doesn’t care? I’ve always thought that Rios gets more crap about his fielding than he deserves because he is a smooth runner, so often it doesn’t look like he is going all out when I doubt there are many writers at the Toronto Sun that could keep up with him. Generally his fielding stats are very good.

I think we’ve all heard the same sort of story about a lot of players. Some clerk at a grocery store, one day, decided to tell me what a creep Wayne Gretzky was cause he didn’t sign an autograph for her at some point and how she laid into him and how he gave it back. I think maybe we forget that athletes are people too. We’ve all had bad moments.

by Tom Dakers on Jun 9, 2009 9:49 AM EDT up reply actions

Steve Simmonds

Is a moron.
I don’t get what is wrong with half the writers in the GTA.

Between Cox, Berger, DiManno, Simmonds, Kelly, Elliot and Griffin you can barely pick up a paper without someone talking trash about the Jays or the Leafs or any team in general. Negative stories sell more then the positive ones and generate more page hits. Thats what they care about now.

Rios is done as a Blue Jay? Hardly, Does that even make sense? The answer is no. What are the Jays going to do release him? Trade him? He is low value at the moment and you would not get what you should for him, you can’t release him because you still on the hook for the money and he isn’t a bad player so that would just be stupid.

You know what is really sad? The fact that the quality of writing in the sports pages has gone downhill significantly in the GTA, these guys squandered their writing gifts with a lack of passion and apathy. Steve Simmonds and the rest of his reporter pals can bite me.

I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it. - Dogbert

by JohnnyG on Jun 9, 2009 9:53 AM EDT reply actions

Hey...I like Bob Elliot....

Yeah Toronto is different, he says as a westerner. I guess negative does sell papers but you’d think that maybe sometimes they could be positive about the team. I guess it is a Toronto thing, likely 45 years of crappy Leaf teams will do that to you.

by Tom Dakers on Jun 9, 2009 10:07 AM EDT up reply actions