One month ago the Cincinnati Reds signed right-handed pitcher Wilmer Rios. The now 29-year-old righty had pitched in Mexico for his entire career, throwing in parts of nine seasons. He was coming off of a season in 2022 in which he went 18-6 over 29 starts where he threw 171.2 innings with a 3.20 ERA. Rios was also selected to pitch for Team Mexico in the World Baseball Classic, but towards the end of February he decided to not pitch in the tournament so he could show up to spring training with the Reds and focus on things there.
On March 2nd he posted on twitter a photo of his #21 jersey hanging up in the locker room, with the caption (translated): I see it and feel like I’m dreaming!! Without a doubt, God’s timing is perfect. Everything is thanks to God. And as my brother @ElianLD said “dreams do come true”.
An updated minor league camp roster a few days ago no longer had Wilmer Rios listed on it. Some researching online led to a story from Ruben Iribe of Vanguardia on March 6th that reported that Wilmer Rios was no longer with the Cincinnati Reds organization.
Rios addressed the situation on his instagram stories, noting that “the contract with the Cincinnati Reds could not continue due to issues that are not in their hands”, as translated via google translate. That isn’t all that specific and could mean a lot of different things, but at the end of the day, Rios won’t be with the Reds this year and is returning to Mexico to pitch.
After his winter league stint with Hermosillo where he posted a 1.84 ERA in 13 starts and looking like he’d get a chance to give it a go at trying to reach the big leagues with his first stint in affiliated baseball, that’s off of the table for now. After seeing what Fernando Cruz did last season, making his big league debut at age 32 after not pitching in affiliated baseball for six seasons (he played winter ball, independent league baseball, and in Mexico) the idea of Rios making a similar rise was a fun story to follow.