Reds Designate Jose Siri For Assignment
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, 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).
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.