Cincinnati Reds: Castellanos signing means roster casualty for Jose Siri
The Cincinnati Reds made another high-profile free agent signing and to make room for him Jose Siri’s dreams of playing in the majors may have vanished.
The Cincinnati Reds continue to spend money on the free-agent market. Wade Miley and Mike Moustakas signed earlier in the off-season and now the Reds have locked up Nicholas Castellanos. With the 40-man roster at capacity, the Reds needed to remove a player to make room for their latest addition.
Enter Jose Siri. Or rather exit Jose Siri.
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Signed as a seventeen-year-old out of the Dominican Republic Siri offered great speed and above-average defensive skills as an outfielder. He spent three years in Rookie ball before moving up to Class A where he had a bit of a breakout year. Siri hit 24 home runs and stole 46 bases while scoring 92 runs in only 126 games of action.
This was good enough to land him on the Top 100 MLB prospects list in 2018, settling in at number 93. After hitting .239 and .237 the next two years respectively, including a .186 clip in thirty games at AAA Louisville this past season, the once-promising 21-year-old soon became an expendable 24-year-old.
Siri spent seven years in the Reds minor league system and only two of them at the AA level or higher. This was enough for them to realize they wanted to move on and so the Reds designated Siri for assignment.
They now have seven days to trade him, place him on waivers, or release him. He is currently hitting .196 for Gigantes in the Dominican Winter League.
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Siri does have a minor league option remaining meaning when he latches on with another team they can stash him in the minors without sending him through waivers. The Cincinnati Reds will have trouble trading him for anything of value, but with the speed and defensive capabilities, he possesses Siri could be a buy-low possibility for a team seeking some inexpensive outfield depth.