ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Tampa Bay Rays have traded outfielder Jose Siri to the New York Mets, the team announced on Tuesday. In exchange, the Rays received right-handed pitcher Eric Orze.
Siri, 29, played in over 287 Games for Tampa Bay after being acquired from the Houston Astros in August 2022. He was part of a three-team, five player trade that also involved the Baltimore Orioles.
Siri played in a career-high 130 games this past season for the Rays, logging 16 doubles, one triple, 18 home runs and 47 RBI. The Dominican outfielder led the team with 12 game-winning RBI and ranked second among MLB outfielders with 17 outs above average.
We'll miss your flash, El Rayo ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/RtGvivxE4s
— Tampa Bay Rays (@RaysBaseball) November 19, 2024
Siri is the latest of key players Tampa Bay has decided to move on from within the last year, including Randy Arozarena, Isaac Paredes, and Tyler Glasnow.
Orze made two relief appearances for the Mets in his MLB debut last season. Before that, the 27-year-old logged 43 relief outings for Triple-A Syracuse and went 6-1 with a 2.92 ERA, three saves, and 84 strikeouts. The Mets selected him in the fifth round of the 2020 First-Year Player Draft.
This offseason move is another string of decisions the front office made recently that has caused off-the-field drama.
On Tuesday,the Rays wrote a letter to the Pinellas County Board of County Commissioners stating that a new ballpark couldn't be delivered for the start of the 2028 season and that opening a ballpark in 2029 would be too expensive.
"As we have informed the county administrator and St. Petersburg Mayor Ken Welch, the county’s failure to finalize the bonds last month ended the ability for a 2028 delivery of the ballpark," the Rays said in their letter.
About a week before that, on Nov. 14, the club announced it would play its 2025 home games at Steinbrenner Field in Tampa due to the damage that Tropicana Field suffered during Hurricane Milton. This caused Pinellas County officials to publicly speak out against the team's decision.
"If you're going to use our county's residents in Clearwater's portion of the bed tax to fund a new stadium, we just ask for a little respect," Clearwater Mayor Bruce Rector said.
The Pinellas County Commission is scheduled to vote on approving the stadium bonds at a meeting on Tuesday night. They have already delayed the vote once.
ABC Action News reached out to Tampa Mayor Jane Castor to ask if the city may be interested again in making a play for the Rays to move to Tampa.
"She and the city's other partners would be happy to talk to the Rays if the appropriate time comes," Mayor Castor's office said in an email.
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