Mets Acquire Jose Siri from Rays
"Hey Siri - Let everyone know 70% of the world is covered by water and the rest by Jose Siri"
Late Tuesday afternoon, a surprising move was made that has shook the space of a rather boring weekday early in the offseason. The Mets made a trade with the Tampa Bay Rays to acquire gold glove center fielder Jose Siri for relief pitcher Eric Orze. Let’s break it down.
Jose Siri
Siri just completed his third straight 100+ game season. He was traded from the Astros to the Rays in 2022 and has been a stellar pillar in the outfield ever since. In 2022, he wasn’t good offensively, posting a 75 wRC+ and -5.9 offensive run value. His defense was so elite it still carried him to a 1.8 WAR in 104 games. He went to work in the offseason and the results followed. An adjustment was made to elevate the ball more consistently. From 2022-2023 the following offensive progressions we made… xSLG (.323 in ‘22 - .442 in ‘23), average EV (87.2 mph - 88.4 mph), barrel% (6.2% - 13.2%), hard hit% (33.0% - 37.7%), sweet-spot% (35.1% - 33.0%). Here’s the rest of his Baseball Savant dashboard from 2022 & 2023.
Siri also made the following batted ball adjustments that can be seen below. He was able to effectively cut his ground ball & pop up percentages to increase his fly ball & line drive percentages above league average. Additionally, he started pulling the ball significantly more, a Rays specialty. He didn’t pull the ball nearly as much in 2024, but continued to improve his barrel%, hard hit% and sweet-spot%.
Siri is 29 years old and posts 99th sprint speed and outs above average (OAA) with a 98th percentile overall defensive run value in 2024. He hasn’t dropped below the 95th percentile in any of those three metrics since he became a full time player in 2022. The Mets now have an elite defensive center fielder for a few years to potentially cover ground alongside Juan Soto.
Despite his age, Siri has 3 years of team control and is projected to make $2.3 million in arbitration. At worst, the Mets have a valuable bench defensive substitution & pinch runner. This is a great bridge to ensure the Mets have time to let their prospects develop & are not rushed into MLB. I wouldn’t be surprised to see Siri get traded by 2027 (ahead of his last year of team control), with the prospect depth the Mets have in the outfield.
Eric Orze
Eric Orze, the relief pitcher going back to the Rays in this deal is probably an unknown name. Many Mets fans may remember the 1.2 innings he pitched for them this year and things could have gone a lot better to say the least. Orze has been one of my favorite relief pitching prospects, but things just weren’t clicking the last couple years in the Mets system.
Orze dominates hitters with a disgusting changeup/splitter. It’s his calling card, his one true great pitch, and it does well. His lowest K% at any level is 29.8% in 61.0 AAA innings in 2023. Unfortunately, since the start of 2023, control has completely escaped Orze. Since the start of 2023, between AAA & his two MLB appearances, Orze has an atrocious 13.7% BB rate. His 30.7% K rate in that same time frame is outstanding. They combine for a respectable 17.0% K-BB rate which is very good. Unfortunately, a 13.7% BB rate isn’t going to fly with the Mets.Â
Outside of an elite changeup, Orze’s other two pitches are rather pedestrian. Even in AAA, his fastball & slider are average in just about every sense of the word. The whiff rate on the two are average at best, but realistically below average. The contact quality was really bad on both the fastball & slider while the changeup continued to excel.Â
Considering his pronator profile, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Rays tried to tighten his slider which is of average shape (86.4 mph / 0.9 IVB / 6.0 HB) and have him throw it a little harder. I’m not sure how probable this is, but with Orze’s 45 degree arm angle and high release, they may try to mold a death-ball shape slider for Orze to have two highly effective secondary pitch offerings.
Final Thoughts
I’m sorry things didn’t work out for Orze with the Mets, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a very effective arm for the Rays. No matter his outcome with Tampa, it wouldn’t have worked out in Queens. I’m ecstatic the Mets have upgraded in CF without having to spend much money or prospect capital. Excited to watch Siri cover 75% of the outfield in 2025. LGM!