Rangers claim Alex Rios off waivers

UPDATE 3:46: The Rangers are the mystery team that claimed Rios off of waivers, according to Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News. Texas was interested in acquiring Rios before the non-waiver trade deadline and are in need of an outfielder after Nelson Cruz was suspended for the rest of the regular season in connection to the Biogenesis investigation.

MLB Sources: Rangers did claim Alex Rios. But claiming him and acquiring him 2 very different things.

— Evan Grant (@Evan_P_Grant) August 8, 2013

The White Sox have 72 hours to trade or give Rios to the Rangers. They can also pull him off waivers.

Original Post:

Chicago White Sox outfielder Alex Rios was claimed off of waivers by an unknown team, according to a report from Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports.

Sources: #WhiteSox’s Alex Rios claimed on waivers. Claiming team not known. Owed $13M next season with $13.5M club option in ’15. MORE

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) August 8, 2013

Rios is on revocable waivers, meaning that the White Sox have 48 hours to either work out a trade with the claiming team, pull him off waivers, or let him go for nothing. In 2009, the White Sox claimed Rios off waivers from the Blue Jays and Toronto let him go for nothing, content with the salary dump the move brought.

Numbers wise, Rios is having a solid season, hitting .277 with 12 HR, 55 RBI and a .328 OBP, but scouts questioned his passion and desire to play the game at the trade deadline. In late July, Rios was benched by White Sox manager Robin Ventura for not running out a ground ball double play. Rios was not happy with the benching.

"If he wants to make a statement for the team, it probably worked," Rios added. "I don’t know what his intentions were. But that’s what I wanted to see."

Rios is under contract through 2014 and will be paid $12.5M next season with a team option for $13.5M for 2015. If traded, Rios' salary for each year will increase by $500K.

The Rangers, Royals, Diamondbacks, Giants and Pirates were connected to Rios before the July 31 non-waiver trade deadline, but it is unclear if either of those teams made the claim. He has a partial no-trade clause, and can block deals to the Yankees, Diamondbacks, Rockies, Royals, Astros and Athletics.

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