MLB: Dominic Smith, another who sounds to leave the New York Mets

With Dominic smith coming off a disappointing 2021 season, “there are some expectations within the industry that New York Mets will trade him “after the lockout. Since the Mets beefed up their daily lineup by signing Starling Marte, Mark Canha and Eduardo EscobarThere has been a lot of speculation about what the club would do with a suddenly packed mix of position players.

Between the three new faces and Robinson Cano returning from suspension, Jeff McNeil, Smith and JD Davis suddenly seemed to have little regular playing time. Even if the NL adopts the designated hitter in the next collective bargaining agreement, there could be a greater chance that the free-spending Mets will fill that additional spot in the lineup with another established star:

That’s far from the first time Smith has appeared in trade rumors. Smith generated a lot of commercial comment following his great performance (more than 197 plate appearances) in 2019, as the Mets’ excess talent at first base and outfield seemed to leave Smith without a position.

However, injuries and the use of the NL designated hitter in 2020 opened up more space for Smith in 2020, and he responded with even greater numbers.

Smith hit a cumulative .299 / .366 / .571 with 21 home runs in 396 at-bats in 2019-20, but that production fell dramatically last year, with just a .244 / .304 / .363 line and 11 home runs over 493 batted.

While Smith benefited from a BABIP of .368 in 2020, that number dropped to .298 in 2021, and Smith’s isolated power also dropped from .299 to just .119. Less harsh contact overall could be why so few of Smith’s flyballs resulted in home runs or doubles, and opposing teams also increased their use of defensive swings against the left-handed hitter:

After posting big numbers against shift (special formation) in 2019-20, Smith only had a .265 wOBA against shifts last season, and teams used shift 60.1% of the time (according to Statcast).

Smith is controlled during the 2024 season, with Smith in his second year of salary arbitration (as a Super Two player). Smith is projected to make $ 4MM, so the player would be a steal if he could regain his pre-2021 form.

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Between this ability to control and his recent success, Smith still has a solid amount of business value, even if the suitors had some justifiable question marks in the wake of their respective bad years. That said, it could be argued that Smith could benefit from a change of scenery away from the drama that has swirled around the Mets in recent years.

Rafael Martinez

I am a fan of the King of Sports, especially the Boston Red Sox in MLB and in general all of Mexican baseball. This profession has given me the opportunity to cover major events such as the Caribbean Series, the LMB All Star, LMP (uninterrupted since 2009), signings of important players. I had the chance to attend the 2013 World Classic in Arizona, USA, albeit as a fan. Apart from this beautiful sport, I love basketball, where I have also narrated games and even an NBA friendly 10 years ago, but I carry baseball in my veins. Graduated in Communication Sciences from the Autonomous University of Sinaloa (UAS) , from which I graduated in 2011. I was born in Mazatlán, Sinaloa and started in the world of sports journalism in 2004 in the newspaper El Sol de Mazatlán, where I was a baseball columnist and reporter at the same time. In January 2009 I came to El Debate as a journalist reporter and it was almost six years (in the first stage), until in November 2014 I emigrated to the radio providing my services in Línea Directa-Grupo RSN. My cycle there ended in July 2019 and within days, El Debate gave me another opportunity to work and opened the doors for me again. That is how I came to Al Bat, where I have been since 2019 as a web journalist.

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