The Mets and Rays announced a one-for-one trade sending outfielder to New York for reliever . Both players were on their teams 40-man roster, so the Joonas Korpisalo Jersey trade doesnt have any impact on tonights Rule 5 protection deadline. Siri, 29, spent two and a half seasons in Tampa Bay. The Rays acquired him from the Astros in a three-team trade at the 2022 deadline. Siri has been Kevin Cashs primary center fielder going back to the start of the 23 season. He connected on 25 home runs in only 364 plate appearances that year. While the power was enough to make Siri a productive player, he hit .222 with a .267 on-base percentage. Those already poor marks fell even further in 2024. Siri hit .187/.255/.366 in a career-high 448 plate appearances. He popped another 18 homers but ranked last in OBP among the 207 hitters with at least 400 trips to the plate. Only had a lower batting average. Since the start of the 23 season, Siri owns a .203/.260/.424 batting line. An extreme free swinger, Siri has i sues making contact against pitches both within and outside the zone. He went down on strikes at a ma sive 37.9% rate this year and has fanned in nearly 36% of his career plate appearances. Siri strikes out far too often to be a consistently effective hitter, but he has 20+ homer potential at the bottom of a lineup. More importantly, Siri has elite athleticism that makes him one of the best defensive players in baseball. Hes a top-of-the-scale runner with elite arm strength. Siri has posted excellent numbers for his glovework in center field. Defensive Runs Saved credited him as 12 runs above average in a little over 1000 innings this past season. Statcast was even more bullish, rating him 15 runs above par. By measure of Statcasts Outs Above Average, Siri was tied for second with Cardinals rookie among outfielders in defensive value. Only Washingtons narrowly surpa sed him. and are the only outfielders with more Outs Above Average since the start of 2023. Siri probably slots behind on New Yorks center field depth chart. Both players are right-handed hitters, so they dont make for a natural platoon. Taylor has much better contact skills than Siri brings to the table. Hes coming off a solid .248/.299/.401 showing in his first year as a Met. There are clear parallels between Siri and , to whom the Mets gave 437 plate appearances this year. Theyre each fantastic defensive outfielders with some power but subpar on-base skills. Bader is again a free agent after playing on a $10.5MM deal. Siri is much more affordable. Hes in his first of three arbitration seasons and is for a $2.3MM salary (courtesy of MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz). If the Mets again find themselves in the top tier of luxury tax penalization, theyll pay roughly $2.53MM in taxes on top of that salary. They control him through the 2027 campaign. While Siri remained affordable, the Rays were evidently prepared to move on because of his lackluster offense. Their only other player who got an extended look in center field this year was . Acquired from the Dodgers in the trade, DeLuca hit just .217/.278/.331 in his first extended MLB look. Hes nearly as fast as Siri and could be a plus defensive center fielder in his own right, but he doesnt bring much offensive juice. While once looked like a potential everyday center fielder in St. Louis, his bat has never developed as hoped. is probably better suited in a corner, though he could theoretically move back to center if the Rays add another bat or want to play and in the corner outfield on a regular basis. As they look to sort out center field, the Rays add to their bullpen depth. Orze, 27, was a fifth-round pick in the shortened 2020 draft. His only big league experience consists of two games for the Mets in July. He was blown up in that limited look, surrendering four runs in 1 2/3 innings. The 64 righty had a solid year at Triple-A Syracuse. He to sed 61 2/3 innings of 2.92 ERA ball, striking out nearly a third of opponents behind an excellent 15.4% swinging strike rate. Orze walked more than 12% of batters faced and has struggled with his command throughout his pro career. That could relegate him to a middle relief role. Orze uses his changeup as his primary pitch and sits in the 93-94 MPH range with his fastball. He barely has any major league service and can be optioned for another two seasons, so hell likely bounce between Tampa Bay and Triple-A Durham on multiple occasions over the next couple years. first reported the terms of the trade. Images courtesy of USA Today Sports. Morgan Geekie Jersey