According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, free-agent outfielder Alex Rios is drawing interest from the Cleveland Indians, Seattle Mariners and Kansas City Royals.
word is, mariners, royals and indians are among teams to check in on alex rios
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) December 5, 2014
The Mariners recently inked outfielder Nelson Cruz to a four-year, $57 million deal this past week, giving them a 3-4-5 lineup of second baseman Robinson Cano, Cruz and recently-extended third baseman Kyle Seager.
The Royals, who could use another right-handed bat with the loss of Billy Butler to the Oakland Athletics, have also expressed interest in the soon to be 34-year-old outfielder. Kansas City is heading into the 2015 campaign with their top outfield options being Jerrod Dyson, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon.
The Indians have centerfielder Michael Bourn still under contract for two more seasons, but after an injury-plagued 2014 season, Cleveland could look to add more veteran depth. Their current outfield consists of Michael Brantley, David Murphy and Bourn, along with utility man Ryan Raburn, who could see a lot of time in both the infield and the outfield.
During the 2014 season with the Texas Rangers, Rios had a slash line of .277/.328/.421 with only four home runs and 54 runs batted in over 521 plate appearances in 131 games. In 156 games in 2013, he slashed .278/.324/.432 with 18 home runs and 81 runs batted in between the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers.
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