Bounce-back candidate: Alex Rios
Alex Rios has tormented fantasy baseball owners for many years. The White Sox outfielder has flashed power, speed, and provided good averages. Rios had one of his better seasons in 2010 with a .284 average, 89 runs, 21 home runs, 88 RBIs, and 34 stolen bases in his first full season with the White Sox in a hitters ballpark.
Like a few White Sox players last season, Rios flopped. He had the worst season of his career batting .227 with 64 runs, 13 home runs, 44 RBIs, and 11 stolen bases. He did it despite having the best strikeout rate of his career at 11.9 percent.
A .237 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) was well below his career average of .306. Rios played with a toe injury, so that could have been a factor in his poor performance. On a positive note, he did finish strong with a .307 average, five home runs and a .533 slugging percentage in September.
Rios has two seasons of 20 home runs or more, and three seasons of at least 24 stolen bases or more. Just two years ago, Rios had 21 home runs and 34 stolen bases. The skills are certainly there. Rios will bounce back and it won’t cost much of an investment in case he doesn’t.
Currently on mockdraftcentral.com, Rios has an ADP (average draft position) of 215th overall and 55th among outfielders. That is a 17th round pick in a 12-team league. I definitely think it is worth it there and I would even take him earlier.
For 2012 draft prep, click the 2012 draft prep tag below.
