The Yankees announced that they have re-signed first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith to a minor league deal. He had been in camp with the Yanks on a previous minor league deal but opted out when he didn’t make the Opening Day roster.
Smith, 30, had a pretty solid showing in camp. He got 38 plate appearances with the Yankees and slashed .297/.289/.568. However, his recent MLB track record is more middling and there wasn’t a great path to playing time for him.
Despite some outfield experience, he’s mostly a first base/designated hitter option at this point, having not played the outfield in the majors since 2021. Even when he did play on the grass, he wasn’t great at it. The Yanks have Paul Goldschmidt at first base. They could have put Smith at DH but opted for Ben Rice instead. Their bench spots went to guys with more defensive versatility like Oswald Peraza and Pablo Reyes.
When Smith didn’t get an Opening Day job, he opted out and presumably assessed his options for a few days, but is now back with the Yanks as non-roster depth. He has some theoretical upside as a former first-round pick and top prospect. He also hit .299/.366/.571 in the majors over 2019 and 2020, production which translates to a 150 wRC+.
But as mentioned, he hasn’t been quite as good since. He had a combined line of .241/.311/.360 over the 2021 through 2024 seasons, with those numbers translating to an 87 wRC+. Given that he doesn’t provide much with the glove or on the bases, that lack of offense has turned him into a journeyman, suiting up for the Mets, Nationals, Red Sox and Reds in recent years.
The old saying goes that there’s no such thing as a bad minor league deal. The Yanks can install Smith into their system and see if a need arises. Their lineup is already without DJ LeMahieu and Giancarlo Stanton, who are both on the injured list. If any further health issues crop up, they will have the ability to call up an experienced big leaguer for some at-bats.
Photo courtesy of Jonathan Dyer, Imagn Images
IE no one else wanted him 🙃
Pretty much. Sad, but obviously true. It takes a lot of perseverance and determination to be fringe Major League ballplayer. You have to admire the work ethic and sticktoitivness.
@mlbfan
Idk if I would call Smith the typical fringe “quad A” type MLB player that you referenced. He has career earnings of over $13mil, a lot more than many of those kind of players.
More like a once-decent player trying to make a comeback. 2020 Smith got some MVP votes. In his prime, he was far better than what they had at 1B last year.
He came crawling back
Surprised. With Goldschmidt and Rice, he doesn’t have much of a path back to the majors on the Yankees. Looked good in ST.
One injury and hes on the squad. Things work out that way sometimes
Ok no problem, we’ll take him back, and no big risk in doin so. Welcome aboard!
Anyone picks him up, has to put him on their 40 man roster or opt him on the waiver wire in hopes he passes through the waiver wire. But I believe he has to be on the 40 man for like 10-15 days before being waived or something like that. He can be released, but that makes zero sense when you release one guy for Dom, just to turn around and release Dom. Moves like that happens near to mid-season when the games start mattering more.
It’s a minor league deal, so no 40 man roster or waiver considerations.
Welcome back Dom!
Boone should gift him a “welcome back” torpedo bat 🙂
Those bats are only good if you can hit the ball. Like those 90 mph meatballs the Brewers served the Yankees.
Someone tell Judge to start using one! 415 footers aren’t what they used to be.
Some people be acting like Torpedo bats are the new Chris Sabo cork special
Albert Belle just asked Jason Grimsley to hold his beer.
Long live the torpedo bat (and the Brewers throwing 90mph BP fastballs right down the middle of the plate).
They’re not even exclusive to the Yankees. It’s the same noise when the league began adopting maple wood bats from ash wood.
I mean if you want to run with social media conspiracy theories, be my guest to believe that they’ll continue to average 12 runs score per game. What does “likes of you” mean?
Are you OK Tom?
As much as I’d like to believe the yankees are cheating what a boring non story. Every team can do the same if they are truly advantageous.
The brewers losing again today. Just do not appear to be a very good team so far
It’s easy to lose when you throw meatballs down the middle of the plate.
I doubt few would remember or know that line.
we take the phrase, “kicking in a
skull” and we tweak it, you know, just a hair, to something like, what, like
“strolling through a dewy meadow”?
He must believe he’s got a better path with the Yankees than any other club, because he played well enough in the spring to justify a call up from somebody.
I’m surprised no other team kicked the tires on a minor league deal. He’s got a shot at making the big league club. Unfortunately, injuries will happen.
I also think, as we’ve discussed many times about various overlapping generations of talent, that there are guys stuck in the minors who have one or two or three tools that are MLB level ready (like Dominic Smith right now), but there are guys ahead of them who are established and though their productivity might prove interchangeable if they were swapped out for any reason- teams have committed to certain players in terms of dollars and roster construction and there’s just nowhere to put someone- and we are talking about the Yankees, who are out DJ LeMahieu- which I assume is who Ben Rice is currently replacing?
All good points. Ben Rice is definitely ahead of him in the pecking order, Rice can play Catcher, is left-handed, can play 1B, and has shown that he has pop. Dom goes down the chart even with his nice Spring Training numbers.
He didn’t want a minor league deal. He was looking to make a Major League roster. When no offers came. he just went back the team that had actually invested time in him.
Dom is known soggy cheeks… I say this as someone who knows trash when they see it, just ask my wife! Actually, please don’t we are divorced!
I’m actually rooting for Dom, because I’ve watched him since his New York days. The problem with Dom, is he has no singular talent that is exceptional or probably even “good”. He’s a decent defender at 1b but that’s about it to my eyes.
I believe Dom Smith is a Moneyball Style/Quality Player, which is only one small part of what teams look for in players nowadays.
“I’m actually rooting for Dom, because I’ve watched him since his New York days.”
you mean last week?
sorry had to <3
every team can use them
every team can use them
every team can use them
what do you mean?
Very carefully, my friend
So this is what masterbation looks like in print!
He just wanted a Torpedo bat.
Quadruple A
I hate Aaron Boone and won’t forgive him for taking Max Fried out of the game before he qualified for a win with A TEN RUN LEAD. What manager does that other than Aaron Boone & Rob Thompson. This move took a win away from my fantasy team as well, which stinks. Once again I hate Aaron Boone!!!!!!
You want him to exceed his pitch limit and risk injury because of your fantasy team?
Smart teams and managers protect their best players no matter what, ESPECIALLY with a ten run lead. No one cares about your fantasy team.
Lots of buzz lately about Torpedo Bats. Get yours today and see you all in the Major Leagues soon.
victussports.com/pro-reserve-bats/
Ike Davis, Dom Smith, Pete Alonso; Mets homegrown First Baseman over the last decade and a half. At least they hit on one of them
dont forget daniel murphy and lucas duda.
Murphy was a utility guy that settled into 2B, Duda was an Outfielder that wound up at 1B, that’s why i didn’t include them
correction murphy was a 3rd baseman in the minors but his first year they moved him to the outfield because they liked his batting average and potential and your were not moving carlos delgago from first or david wright from 3rd. . then the next two years was pretty much was at 1b. Then to make way for Davis’s bat and ike’s no flexibility they moved murphy to 2nd base as he was not that great at the outfield or 3b.
Duda was as much an outfielder as Dom Smith. The only reason Duda was in the outfield is because Davis and Murphy were better 1b but they liked Duda’s power and left field was a place you could potentially hide his bad fielding. Even in the minors he played more 1b than outfield. So you have to either exclude Dom Smith or include Duda because they basically did the same thing.
Perfect hope he never sees the majors cuz goldy and rice look fantastic. Don’t want either to get hurt
He needed a job to pay the bills.