Mets: 5 players who should already be on the trade block
By Drew Koch
New York Mets rumors: Dominic Smith, first baseman
It was rumored over the offseason that former first-round pick Dominic Smith was on the trade block, but nothing ever materialized. Surely there’s a team out there that would find value adding Smith to their squad.
The 26-year-old is under team control through the 2024 season and is making a modest $3.95M this season in Flushing. Smith just isn’t an outfielder, and he’ll never get regular reps at first base with Pete Alonso on the team.
Smith has shown in the past that can handle both left and right-handed pitching, as there’s little difference in his career splits. But surprisingly the left-handed hitting Smith struggled mightily against right-handers in 2021, hitting just .218 with a .622 OPS.
Despite the addition of the universal DH, it just doesn’t make sense to hang onto Dominic Smith any longer. The batting average and power numbers aren’t there in the early-going, so the New York Mets should abandon ship and get what they can now before Smith’s numbers continue to decline.