He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) primarily for the Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals, and Atlanta Braves and has also had brief stints in the Texas Rangers, Miami Marlins, and Detroit Tigers organizations.

He spent the next two seasons with the Advance A class Visalia Oaks, gaining a promotion to Double-A Mobile Bay Bears in 2009.

At the beginning of the season, Baseball America ranked Ciriaco as the infielder with the best arm in the Diamondbacks' minor league system.

[1] On July 30, 2010, Ciriaco and Chris Snyder were traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for D. J. Carrasco, Ryan Church and Bobby Crosby.

On March 27, 2011, he returned to Indianapolis after the Pirates named Rule 5 selection Josh Rodriguez to the team's Opening Day roster.

The announcement came moments after Ciriaco and Rodriguez helped the Pirates defeat the Tampa Bay Rays by scoring on a throwing error in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the team a 5–4 victory.

He attended spring training as a non-roster invitee, and led the Red Sox in batting average (.412), runs (14), hits (18), stolen bases (8), and games played (26), while collecting a .444 on-base percentage and a slugging of .651.

In 64 games with the Pawtucket Red Sox, Ciriaco hit for a .301 average, including four home runs and 21 RBIs.

The next day, Ciriaco made his Red Sox debut in the first game of a day-night doubleheader against the New York Yankees, getting the start at second.

[8] Ciriaco was acquired after second baseman Jedd Gyorko went on the disabled list with a groin strain,[9] but he saw most of his action at shortstop, as Everth Cabrera went down with a hamstring injury soon after.

[16] On January 13, 2016, Ciriaco signed a minor league contract with the Texas Rangers organization that included an invitation to Spring Training.