Outfielder Alex Rios drawing interest from a trio of teams

According to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports, veteran free agent outfielder Alex Rios is drawing interest from a trio of teams heading into the Winter Meetings next week in San Diego, just days after the first big outfield bat of the season signed in Nelson Cruz.

Seattle recently added Cruz on a four-year deal, although he could very well spend the majority of the time as the club’s designated hitter after leading the American League with 40 home runs last year. The Mariners inked Cruz to a four-year, $57 million deal earlier this week, giving the team a 3-4-5 of Robinson Cano, Cruz and recently-extended third baseman Kyle Seager.

Rios saw his power numbers take a nose dive in 2014, hitting just four home runs in 521 plate appearances with the Texas Rangers, driving in just 54 runs. The former first-round pick is heading into his age 35 season, so what type of deal he receives this offseason will be interesting. Granted, Cruz, who is also heading into his age 35 campaign, received a solid deal, but he offers a great deal more to the M’s – especially in terms of offense.

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However, the Mariners are not alone in their interest in Rios. Kansas City, which lost Billy Butler‘s bat to free agency earlier this offseason, has checked in on him, as well as the Cleveland Indians, which has also been tied of late to trade talks with the Oakland Athletics regarding the left-handed-swinging Brandon Moss.

Kansas City heads into the 2015 season with Jerrod Dyson, Lorenzo Cain and Alex Gordon as the club’s top three outfield options, and adding veteran depth could appeal to a still-young Royals club coming off an American League pennant. Adding Rios on a one or two-year deal is feasible, although it depends on how interested the other suitors are in his services.

Rios is just one season removed from a respectable 18 homer, 81 RBI campaign when he split time between the Chicago White Sox and Texas Rangers when he batted .277/.328/.421 across 156 games. For his big league career, the veteran has averaged a .762 OPS while spending time in all three outfield positions.

Cleveland has Michael Bourn under contract to man center field for the next two years, but after an injury-plagued 2014 campaign, adding outfield depth to compliment David Murphy and Michael Brantley in the outfield, along with Ryan Raburn, could make a lot of sense. That being said, adding someone like Rios, who seemed to take a step backward at the plate in 2014, given the team’s other needs, remains questionable.