Alex Rios Is the Vince Carter of Baseball

[Prime Time]

Not a huge post here, but something that popped into my head this evening and I thought I would share.  As everyone knows, Alex Rios had fallen out of favour with fans in Toronto and was claimed off trade waivers by the White Sox, and the Jays just let him go for nothing.  This got me thinking about another Toronto star... Vince Carter.

·         They both began their careers in, and were eventually run out of, Toronto during the prime of their careers.  Rios is 28 and Carter was 27.
·         Neither of them brought anything of value back to Toronto when they were shipped out of town.
·         They both have supreme natural talent.
·         They both routinely mailed games in.
·         They never seemed to particularly care about defence, even though they could have been dominant defensive players with their talent.
·         They were not particularly clutch players.
·         They were both given too much money for players who a) had not proven they were winners, and b) did not show the work ethic and drive that is needed to succeed after they get the big contract.

I am sure there are plenty of more parallels that can be drawn between the two players, so feel free to comment if you can think of any others.

Code:

http://mvn.com/mlbinsights/2009/08/alex-rios-is-the-vince-carter-of-baseball.html

Do you agree with this article? I don't 

[Dynasty]

Nah because the difference is that Rios was never the kind of star that Carter was around 2000-01.  Rios was a solid player and is incredibly talented, but vince Carter was a major superstar at one point, I remember when I was in the 4th grade, every kid wanted to be Vince Carter.

i would say Andruw Jones is a better comparison.

[Prime Time]

Nah because the difference is that Rios was never the kind of star that Carter was around 2000-01.  Rios was a solid player and is incredibly talented, but vince Carter was a major superstar at one point, I remember when I was in the 4th grade, every kid wanted to be Vince Carter.

i would say Andruw Jones is a better comparison.

I use to be one of those kids. One time at home I jumped for almost an hour straight so I can "fly" like Vince Carter... but the outcome of that was sore ankles.

On the basketball court, when ball players talk about basketball, they always bring up Vince Carter. Even now that Chris Bosh is a Raptor. I think this is because most of the people on the court grew up watching the Vince Carter era with the Raptors.

[cselby]

Some decent coincedences, but not a good comparison. Carter, like Dynasty said, was actually a LEGIT superstar. Rios perhaps could have been a star but I don't think he was ever expected to be "the sh*t" like Carter was.

[Dice Dice Baby!!]

Alex Rios = Vince Carter? Why because they're both tall and with light complexions? Dumb.

I'm going to say Ichiro is the better comparison. Very consistent with pretty decent sized egos. However, both are clearly some of the best players in their respective sports.

[Mild Sauce]

Alex Rios = Vince Carter? Why because they're both tall and with light complexions? Dumb.

I'm going to say Ichiro is the better comparison. Very consistent with pretty decent sized egos. However, both are clearly some of the best players in their respective sports.

I don't like the Ichiro comparison, mainly because Ichiro is one of the best hitters as far as bat control and ability to actually get hits goes. He's never dogged it, and has been amazingly consistent since he came into the league. He's going on 9 straight years with 200+ hits now, a record, and he's already topped 2000 hits for his MLB career, yeah, in less than a decade. Far and away the fastest ever.

[Dynasty]

I still say Andruw Jones is the best comparison.  He could have been on the level of Ken Griffey Jr. (prime), and had some really nice years, but has often times been lazy and never really lived up to the full potential he had.

[Dice Dice Baby!!]

Alex Rios = Vince Carter? Why because they're both tall and with light complexions? Dumb.

I'm going to say Ichiro is the better comparison. Very consistent with pretty decent sized egos. However, both are clearly some of the best players in their respective sports.

I don't like the Ichiro comparison, mainly because Ichiro is one of the best hitters as far as bat control and ability to actually get hits goes. He's never dogged it, and has been amazingly consistent since he came into the league. He's going on 9 straight years with 200+ hits now, a record, and he's already topped 2000 hits for his MLB career, yeah, in less than a decade. Far and away the fastest ever.

Ichiro has a huge ego and actually refused to play center field, even though he was clearly the best option in center for the Mariners. I don't know how you can say Vince Carter isn't consistent beyond the one year he claimed to have quit on the team.

[Mild Sauce]

Vince is somewhat consistent, Ichiro is almost as consistent as they come, Vince isn't even in his league. Ichiro is also, as I said, probably the best player ever in the bigs as far as getting hits goes. If he could be around as long as Rose or Cobb he'd, without a doubt, pass both of them, less than 9 years to get to 2,000 hits? That's beyond amazing right there. Carter, on the other hand, is only among the best ever when it comes to dunking, which is still only 2 points done in a more fancy manner. Ichiro actually gave center field consideration, but didn't feel comfortable there, it wasn't like he flat out refused to play there, that's a huge exaggeration on what actually happened. If he has an ego, his is much more deserved than Carter's, considering that it doesn't get in the way of his production.