Rays trade Jose Siri to Mets for reliever Eric Orze, add Jake Mangum

Marc Topkin, Tampa Bay Times on Nov 19, 2024

Published in Baseball

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ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Rays decided they had seen enough of enigmatic outfielder Jose Siri and traded him on Tuesday afternoon to the Mets for reliever Eric Orze.

Siri, 29, at his best provided elite-level defense, impressive power and game-changing speed, often one of the most exciting players on the field. But he also had lapses in concentration and inconsistency in his performance and effort (he was benched twice last season for not hustling), while piling up strikeouts and going through extended slumps.

Last season, he hit .187 with 18 homers, 47 RBIs, 14 steals and a .620 OPS, striking out 170 times in 448 plate appearances. The Rays acquired him on Aug. 1, 2022, from Houston. He has a .210 career average and .674 OPS.

Orze, 27, spent most of 2024 with Triple-A Syracuse, posting a 6-1 record and 2.92 ERA, with 84 strikeouts over 61 2/3 innings. He made two July appearances for the Mets. In 150 career minor league games, he is 17-10 with a 4.04 ERA, with nine saves and 301 strikeouts in 222 2/3 innings. He was not ranked among the Mets’ top 30 prospects.

Siri was eligible for arbitration for the first time and projected by mlbtraderumors.com to make $2.3 million. Jonny DeLuca would seem the likely in-house replacement, and the Rays earlier Tuesday added depth by putting Jake Mangum on their 40-man roster. He became the third prospect they moved to protect from being selected in next month’s Rule 5 draft.

Mangum is 28, which is old by prospect standards, but earned the promotion based on his impressive 2024 season with Triple-A Durham after being acquired in December 2023 from the Marlins.

He hit an International League-leading .317 with six homers, 30 doubles, 56 RBIs, 20 steals and a .799 OPS in 104 games for the Bulls while playing all three outfield positions, with most of his time in center. He was one of five Triple-A players to record 30-plus doubles and 30-plus steals.

To make room on the 40-man roster for Mangum, the Rays designated lefty reliever Richard Lovelady for assignment.

Mangum was a fourth-round pick of the Mets in 2019 after a stellar career at Mississippi State in which he totaled 383 hits, fourth-most in NCAA history. He reached Triple A in 2022, then was traded to the Marlins after the season.

After playing 2023 for Miami’s Triple-A team (hitting .298 with five homers, 52 RBIs and a .771 OPS), Mangum was traded to the Rays in December along with infielder Erick Lara and pitcher Andrew Lindsey for infielder Vidal Brujan and reliever Calvin Faucher.

Teams had a deadline of 6 p.m. Tuesday to protect eligible prospects from being taken in the Rule 5 draft for $100,000. If selected, a player has to spend the full season in the majors or be offered back to his original team for $50,000.

The Rays on Monday added two of their most promising pitching prospects to the roster in lefties Joe Rock and Ian Seymour.

Seymour, 25, split last season between Double-A Montgomery and Durham, going 9-4 with a 2.35 ERA in 27 starts. He was named the organization’s minor league pitcher of the year in what was his first full season following June 2022 Tommy John elbow surgery.

Rock, 24, was acquired in March from Colorado and went 7-8 with a 4.58 ERA in 27 games (23 starts) for Durham.

Lovelady, 29, posted a 3-5 record and 3.77 ERA, with two saves over 28 games for the Rays after a May trade from the Cubs. He was one of the Rays’ 11 arbitration-eligible players and projected by mlbtraderumors.com to make $900,000, not much above the major league minimum salary of $760,000.

Lovelady looked to rank last among the lefty relievers the Rays had on their roster at the end of the season, behind Colin Poche, Garrett Cleavinger, rookie Mason Montgomery and swing man Tyler Alexander.

Poche’s future with the team also could be in question, as he is projected to make $3.4 million in his last season of arbitration eligibility and then can become a free agent after this season.