Jose Siri

Astros’ Jose Siri Drawing Trade Interest

By Steve Adams | July 28, 2022 at 9:07am CDT

The Astros are receiving trade interest in outfielder Jose Siri, reports Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, who adds that “a number of teams” have explored trading for the 27-year-old. Each of the Phillies, Marlins and Brewers have been seeking center field help, Rosenthal notes, though he doesn’t explicitly indicate that any of the three have had substantive talks with Houston.

Interest in Siri comes from other clubs at a time when the Astros are apparently seeking more proven options in center field, but it’s plenty understandable if other clubs would look at Siri’s strong MLB debut in 2021 and his outstanding Triple-A track record and hope he can emerge as a valuable long-term piece if they can land him in a deal with Houston. While he’s something of a late bloomer, having turned 27 just six days ago, Siri hit .304/.347/.609 with four homers and three steals in a tiny sample of 49 plate appearances during last year’s MLB debut. This season, he struggled to a .178/.238/.304 slash in a larger (but still relatively small) sample of 147 trips to the plate.

Houston has twice optioned Siri to Triple-A Sugar Land this season (most recently one week ago), and in the 13 games he’s played there, he’s ripped eight home runs and batted .293/.354/.828 in 65 plate appearances. That eye-popping production from the right-handed-hitting slugger is further backed up by a huge .318/.369/.553 slash through 394 plate appearances with Houston’s top affiliate last season. Overall, he’s played in 107 games and tallied 462 plate appearances with the Astros’ Triple-A club, crushing 24 homers and swiping 25 bags in that time. Siri also posted through-the-roof defensive numbers in 315 innings of center field work for Houston this season: 8 Defensive Runs Saved, a 6.6 Ultimate Zone Rating and 7 Outs Above Average.

While that combination of minor league production and exceptional defensive grades at the big league level is quite appealing, Siri’s strikeout woes are the proverbial elephant in the room. He’s had issues making contact since reaching the Double-A level with Cincinnati back in 2018. Siri punched out in 32.2% of his plate appearances that season and has continued to whiff in more than 30% of his plate appearances at nearly every stop since. He’s fanned “just” 16 times in Triple-A this year (24.6%), but Siri has fallen victim to a strikeout in one-third of his MLB plate appearances and in 30.9% of his total Triple-A plate appearances.

There’s extra reason for the Astros to consider offers on Siri, given that he’s in his final minor league option season. As a win-now club, Houston understandably seeks an immediate contributor in center, and while it’s tempting to say they should be patient with Siri given the power/speed/defense blend, he’ll have to be carried on the Major League roster next year or else be exposed to waivers. Considering his raw tools and Triple-A production (and the current trade interest), it’s quite likely he’d be claimed by another team if things were to reach that point, so extracting some value for Siri right now makes sense if the Astros can find a deal to their liking.

Siri has not yet accrued even one year of Major League service, though if he spends enough time on a big league roster down the stretch, he could still get there. Even if he does reach that point, he could still be controlled another five years beyond the current campaign (or six more if he spends another 17 days in the minors this year).

Astros Activate Jake Meyers From 60-Day IL, Designate Dillon Thomas

By Anthony Franco and Steve Adams | June 24, 2022 at 2:43pm CDT

The Astros announced they’ve designated outfielder Dillon Thomas for assignment in order to clear a 40-man roster spot for Jake Meyers, who is back from the 60-day injured list. Houston optioned Jose Siri to Triple-A Sugar Land to clear active roster space for Meyers.

Thomas, 29, went 0-for-2 with a walk and was a hit-by-pitch in four plate appearances during a very brief stint with the ’Stros. He’s logged just 13 total plate appearances in the Majors, also stepping to the plate nine times as a member of the Mariners a year ago. The 2011 fourth-rounder (Rockies) has split the rest of the 2022 season between the Triple-A affiliates for the Angels and Astros, posting a combined .293/.395/.492 batting line — numbers that generally align with his career .277/.382/.462 output in parts of three seasons at that level. Houston will have a week to trade Thomas, pass him through outright waivers or release him.

Meyers’ return should be a boon for the Astros’ lineup. The 26-year-old made his big league debut in 2021 and impressed with a .260/.323/.438 batting line, six home runs and eight doubles in 163 plate appearances. He also turned in well above-average work in the outfield according to each of Defensive Runs Saved, Ultimate Zone Rating and Outs Above Average.

Were it not for a shoulder injury sustained during last year’s ALDS — one that eventually required surgery after a torn labrum was discovered — Meyers could very well have been the Opening Day center fielder. Time will tell whether he’s able to approximate last year’s solid debut effort, but if he can indeed do so, there’s an opening for the former 13th-rounder to solidify himself as a long-term solution for the Astros alongside Kyle Tucker in the outfield.

For the 26-year-old Siri, the 2022 season has been a struggle. After kicking down the door to the Majors with a .318/.369/.552 batting line in Triple-A last year and subsequently hitting .304/.347/.609 in 49 big league plate appearances, Siri went from minor league signee to a viable big league outfield option. Unfortunately, he hasn’t come anywhere close to that production this season, hitting just .185/.248/.315 in 141 turns at the plate. Siri is in his final minor league option year, creating some further urgency for him to turn things around at the plate.

Astros To Select Jose Siri

By Steve Adams | September 3, 2021 at 8:00am CDT

The Astros are set to select the contract of outfielder Jose Siri, tweets Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle. Right-hander Bryan Abreu posted a video of Triple-A manager Mickey Storey telling the clubhouse that Siri was getting his first call to the big leagues. (Hector Gomez of ZSports 101 also tweeted the video.)

It’s been a long journey to The Show for the 26-year-old Siri, who initially signed with the Reds as a 17-year-old amateur out of his native Dominican Republic back in 2012. He’s grinded through parts of eight minor league seasons and may have thought his call to the big leagues would come a bit sooner than this, given that Cincinnati selected his contract to the 40-man roster back in November 2017 in order to protect him from the Rule 5 Draft.

At that time, Siri was a 22-year-old who’d just wrapped up a brilliant season in Class-A, hitting .293/.341/.530 with 24 home runs, 24 doubles, 11 triples and a whopping 46 stolen bases. His bat took a step back in each of the next two seasons, however, particularly in 2019 when he hit just .186/.252/.245 in his first 30 games of Triple-A work. The Reds designated Siri for assignment in Jan. 2020 to make room on the roster for Nick Castellanos.

Siri wound up being claimed by the Mariners, but Seattle tried to pass him through waivers themselves early in Spring Training. The Giants then claimed him, but he was designated for assignment a second time in July once the league and the union had agreed on return-to-play conditions following the season stoppage due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Giants passed Siri through outright waivers successfully, and he elected free agency this past offseason, eventually settling on a minor league deal with Houston.

Any downturns in Siri’s production since that brilliant 2017 season look like a distant memory now, as he’s put together a monster season in Triple-A Sugar Land and demonstrated why multiple clubs wanted to give him a look on the 40-man roster at various points in the past year. He’s appeared in 93 games and tallied 393 plate appearances with a .321/.372/.559 batting line in that time. Siri has clubbed 16 home runs, 29 doubles and four triples while also going 24-for-27 in stolen-base attempts. He’s appeared at all three outfield positions but spent the bulk of his time this season in center field.

The Astros technically have a full 40-man roster, but they have a pair of players currently in Covid-19 protocols — Zack Greinke and Taylor Jones — so neither counts against the 40-man roster at this time. Siri could potentially be selected as a Covid replacement player, which would mean he’d be able to be sent back down to Triple-A and removed from the 40-man roster without needing to pass through waivers, although given his brilliant season in Triple-A it wouldn’t be a surprise if he were kept on the 40-man roster even once Greinke and Jones return.

Astros Sign Jose Siri To Minor League Contract

By Connor Byrne | December 23, 2020 at 6:03pm CDT

The Astros have signed outfielder Jose Siri to a minor league contract, Robert Murray of FanSided tweets. Siri’s deal includes an invitation to major league spring training.

Before joining the Astros, the 25-year-old Siri had already been with three organizations – the Reds, Mariners and Giants. Siri was a well-regarded prospect in his younger days, but he hasn’t appeared in the majors yet. In his most recent minor league action, Siri batted .237/.300/.357 with 11 home runs and 26 stolen bases over 517 plate appearances between the Reds’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2019. The Reds then lost Siri on waivers to the Mariners, who lost him to the Giants last March. The Giants outrighted Siri in July.

Although he has no MLB track record to speak of, Siri could push for a roster spot in Houston, whose outfield will inevitably deal with major changes this offseason. George Springer, Michael Brantley and Josh Reddick are free agents, leaving the Astros with Kyle Tucker as their lone regular outfielder who’s a lock to return in 2021.

Giants Outright Kean Wong, Jose Siri

By Steve Adams | July 30, 2020 at 9:00pm CDT

The Giants announced Thursday that infielder Kean Wong and outfielder Jose Siri have cleared waivers and been sent outright to Triple-A Sacramento.

Wong was not in the Giants’ 60-man player pool, which means he’s technically still eligible to be added to the pool and selected to the big league roster this season. Siri, who was in the player pool, remains in the organization but cannot be added back to the pool — at least not with the Giants. Siri is still eligible to be traded elsewhere by virtue of beginning the season on a 40-man roster/Major League contract; that’s the same rule that allowed the Orioles to trade Hector Velazquez to the Astros yesterday even though he’d previously been removed from Baltimore’s player pool (also via outright).

Wong, the younger brother of Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, was the Rays’ fourth-round pick back in the 2013 draft and made his MLB debut as a September call-up with Tampa Bay last year. He barely saw any big league time (seven games) but enjoyed a second consecutive quality season at the plate, hitting .307/.375/.464 slash with 10 homers, 29 doubles, six triples and six steals. Offense was elevated throughout the league in Triple-A, but Wong’s output checked in at 16 percent better than league average, as measured by wRC+. Primarily been a second baseman in his minor league career, Wong has also seen time at third base and in the outfield.

Siri, 24, spent the 2013-19 seasons in the Reds organization after signing as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. At one point he was considered one of the Reds’ best prospects, but the shine has worn off him in recent years. Siri raked at a .293/.340/.531 clip with 24 homers and 46 stolen bases as a 21-year-old in Class-A back in 2017, but in the two seasons since that time he’s posted a disappointing .238/.297/.397 slash between Double-A and Triple-A.

Giants Select Rico Garcia, Darin Ruf, Rob Brantly, Tyler Heineman

By Jeff Todd and Connor Byrne | July 23, 2020 at 12:08pm CDT

The Giants have announced their Opening Day roster, which includes several players who’ll need to be added to the 40-man. Reliever Rico Garcia and first baseman Darin Ruf will join catchers Rob Brantly and Tyler Heineman on the 30-man active unit.

Those moves necessitated some departures. Outfielder Jose Siri and infielder Kean Wong were each designated for assignment, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle tweets.

Garcia will enter his first season with the Giants, who claimed him off waivers from the division-rival Rockies last November. He entered the pro ranks as a 30th-round pick of the Rockies in 2016 and has generally posted good results in the minors, though he struggled during his Triple-A and major league debuts last season. The 26-year-old put up a woeful 6.90 ERA/6.47 FIP with 7.48 K/9 and 4.11 BB/9 in 61 1/3 innings at the minors’ top level. In six frames with the Rockies, he allowed seven earned runs on nine hits and five walks (with two strikeouts).

Ruf, meanwhile, joined the Giants in July on a minors pact after thriving in the Korea Baseball Organization from 2017-19. Ruf does have previous MLB experience as a member of the Phillies, with whom he batted .240/.314/.433 in 833 plate appearances from 2012-16. The 33-year-old will now get a chance to pick up at-bats in San Francisco, whose starting first baseman, Brandon Belt, will open the season on the injured list because of a heel issue.

The 31-year-old Brantly, another minor league pickup, has never hit much in MLB stints with the Marlins, White Sox and Phillies, but he’ll could get quite a bit of playing time at catcher for the Buster Posey-less Giants. The same goes for Heineman, whose first 12 major league PA came last season as a member of the Marlins. The former eighth-rounder (Astros, 2012) was excellent in Triple-A last year, when he slashed .341/.397/.622 with 10 homers in 182 PA.

Siri and Wong were both waiver claims in recent months, and they’re now in limbo once again. Siri’s a former Reds farmhand who owns a .264/.313/.447 line with 68 homers and 155 steals in 2,438 minor league PA. Wong combined for 18 trips to the plate with the Angels and Rays last year, but the vast majority of the 2013 fourth-rounder’s experience has come in the minors. He has amassed 1,425 PA in Triple-A and batted .286/.350/.413.

Giants Add Jose Siri To Player Pool

By Steve Adams | July 14, 2020 at 5:25pm CDT

The Giants announced Tuesday that they’ve added outfielder Jose Siri to their 60-man player pool. They claimed him off waivers out of the Mariners organization back in March, just days before the league shutdown began.

Siri, 24, spent the 2013-19 seasons in the Reds organization after signing as an amateur out of the Dominican Republic. At one point he was considered one of the Reds’ best prospects and landed on the back of FanGraphs’ Top 100 prospects list, but the shine has worn off him in recent years. Siri raked at a .293/.340/.531 clip with 24 homers and 46 stolen bases as a 21-year-old in Class-A back in 2017, but in the two seasons since that time he’s posted a disappointing .238/.297/.397 slash between Double-A and Triple-A.

Following that pair of unimpressive seasons, Siri was designated for assignment when Cincinnati signed Nick Castellanos to a four-year contract this past offseason. Now with the Giants, Siri is a ways down the outfield depth chart; Hunter Pence, Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Jaylin Davis, Austin Slater and Steven Duggar are all likely ahead of him. Veteran Billy Hamilton is also in the Giants organization, but he was recently placed on the injured list. The Giants have top prospects Heliot Ramos and Alexander Canario in Summer Camp as well, but Canario hasn’t played above Low-A while Ramos has just 25 Double-A games under his belt. Neither is an immediate option, though Ramos is regarded as one of the game’s more promising outfield prospects.

The Giants initially announced 51 players in their 60-man pool, though they’ve since seen Buster Posey opt out of the 2020 season and shuffled the deck a bit, adding a few groups of players while also placing some on the injured list (which, if done for coronavirus-related reasons, opens additional vacancies in the player pool).

Giants Claim Jose Siri

By Steve Adams | March 10, 2020 at 2:11pm CDT

The Giants have claimed outfielder Jose Siri off waivers from the Mariners, per an announcement from both clubs. San Francisco has placed injured catcher Aramis Garcia on the 60-day injured list to open a spot on the 40-man roster.

It’s the second waiver claim of the offseason for the 24-year-old Siri, who two years ago was ranked as one of the top prospects in the Reds organization. Back in 2017, Siri hit .293/.341/.530 slash with 24 homers and 46 steals in the Class-A Midwest League as a 22-year-old, earning him a spot on the back of FanGraphs’ Top 100 prospect list.

Unfortunately, over the past two seasons, Siri has struggled immensely. His on-base percentage across three minor league levels has checked in south of .300, and his 2019 campaign produced only a .237/.300/.357 slash between Double-A and Triple-A. Thus far in Spring Training, Siri has two hits (including a homer) and seven strikeouts in a dozen plate appearances.

Siri has a minor league option remaining, so he can be used as an up-and-down depth piece in San Francisco if the Giants see fit. It’s also possible that the Giants could try to pass Siri through waivers themselves in hopes of retaining him without committing a roster spot to him (not an uncommon tactic for president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi).

Mariners Claim Jose Siri

By Steve Adams | February 3, 2020 at 12:50pm CDT

The Mariners have claimed outfielder Jose Siri off waivers from the Reds, tweets C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic. The Seattle organization hasn’t formally announced the move yet and will need to make a corresponding 40-man transaction to open space for Siri, who was designated for assignment last week when the Reds inked Nick Castellanos to a four-year deal.

Siri, 24, was considered to be among Cincinnati’s best farmhands just two years ago. FanGraphs, in fact, ranked him near the back end of the game’s 100 best prospects (No. 93 overall) heading into the 2018 campaign. At that point, he was a 22-year-old who was fresh off an impressive .293/.341/.530 slash with 24 homers and 46 steals in the Class-A Midwest League.

Since that time, however, Siri has turned in a pair of disappointing seasons, logging a combined on-base percentage south of .300 in 2018-19 between Class-A Advanced, Double-A and Triple-A. This past season, Siri mustered a lackluster .237/.300/.357 showing through 517 plate appearances in the minors, and he’s struggled even more heavily in the Dominican Winter League (.196/.264/.411 in 125 plate appearances).

The addition of Siri comes not long after the Mariners learned that they’ll be without right fielder Mitch Haniger early in the season due to core surgery. Haniger recently suffered a setback when rehabbing from the ruptured testicle that sidelined him for much of the 2019 season and could miss up to eight weeks of action. With Haniger sidelined for what could be much of Spring Training, Siri will join an outfield mix consisting of Mallex Smith, Kyle Lewis, Dee Gordon, Jake Fraley and Braden Bishop. Siri has a minor league option remaining, so the Mariners can keep him even if he doesn’t break camp with the club.

Reds Designate Jose Siri For Assignment

By Steve Adams | January 27, 2020 at 5:22pm CDT

The Reds announced Monday that they’ve designated outfielder Jose Siri for assignment. His spot on the 40-man roster goes to fellow outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, whose previously reported four-year, $64MM contract has now been formally announced.

Siri has a minor league option remaining and is a plus runner who has been touted as a potentially plus defensive player, making him a reasonable bounceback target for a club that’s lacking outfield depth. The Reds will have a week to trade him, place him on outright waivers or release him.

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