February 05, 2008
Rios Inked
The Blue Jays cleared their arbitration table by signing Alex Rios to a $4.8 million contract, well below the midpoint of the submitted numbers:
While the 26-year-old Rios is not eligible for free agency for another three years, Blue Jays general manager J.P. Ricciardi has expressed interest in signing him to a multiyear extension. On Jan. 25, Ricciardi said he had held "productive" talks with Rios' agent about a long-term deal.
I'm guessing Rios took the lower figure to pave the way for the multi-year deal. By my count, six teams are free of arbitration cases.
Well then... I thought the streak was over but JP pulled it out. Rios might think another year would increase the kind of deal he could get.