Our sister site SoxTalk.com , referencing a sub-story in an ESPN.com article by Jayson Stark and a YouTube video of an verbal spat between
Rios and a fan after a Jays game. The link to the video is below, but beware that the f-word is used frequently by our new outfielder. “He’s not a winning-type player. He’s a guy who just doesn’t have that burning desire to win, or be great.” “He was a guy who just didn’t go after it. He’d be sleeping in his locker 10 minutes before he had to go out on the field. And not just once.” “He wasn’t the same player after he got that [seven-year] contract. It sure seemed like he was a lot more motivated when he was looking for a contract than he was since he got the contract.” Meanwhile, scouts we surveyed seemed dubious, too. “This guy should be a perennial 30-30 [HR-SB] guy,” said one. “But to me, he’s a classic underachiever. If Ozzie takes the wrong approach, he’s going to lose him. He’s a guy you’ve got to go real slow with. But whether Ozzie has that kind of patience, boy, I don’t know.” The YouTube video supposedly was taken after some sort of charity event, which was supposedly after a Jays game in which Rios went 0-for-5 with five strikeouts. While walking to his car, a kid approached Rios for an autograph, Rios appears to ignore the kid, so some guy (kids father) says, “with the way you played today Alex you should be lucky somebody wants yours autograph.” Rios’ response “Who gives a fuck.” They they go back and forth for a few. The guy calling Rios a bumb, Rios responding with f-bombs.
So you have a few former teammates questioning Rios’ desire and attitude, and then a video in which he not only blows off a kid looking for an autograph, but then lets loose a series of f-words with the kid (maybe kids) present.