Smith, a first baseman and outfielder, played for the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds last season. In 93 games, he slashed 233/.313/.378 with six home runs. The Red Sox released him on August 20 and he caught on in Cincinnati, but lasted just nine games before the Reds designated him for assignment.
Smith has spent the bulk of his career with the New York Mets and also played for the Washington Nationals.
The 29-year-old is best known for his career in Flushing. He came up in 2017 and stayed with the Mets until 2022. Smith’s best season came in the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, when he played 50 games and hit .316 with a .993 OPS and 10 home runs.
He was never able to turn that into consistent production, however, as his performance dipped after that. The former No. 11 overall pick played 145 games the next season, hitting for just a .667 OPS. He signed as a free agent with the Nationals in 2023 where he was a replacement-level player for 153 games before moving on last season.
Dominic Smith gives the Yankees another option in new-look lineup
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Smith isn’t the kind of flashy signing that Yankees fans are accustomed to, but he is the kind that teams need to make in order to supplement a star-studded core.
New York has already brought in Max Fried, Cody Bellinger, Devin Williams and Paul Goldschmidt, either via free agency or trade, as they look to make up for the loss of Juan Soto and return to the World Series.
In Smith, they have someone who can play first base and spell the 37-year-old Goldschmidt when necessary. He can also play left field as the Yankees look for some depth beyond projected fourth outfielder Trent Grisham.
With Spring Training approaching, the Yankees’ roster is likely nearing completion. The last true area of need is at second base, where New York will have to make up for letting Gleyber Torres leave in free agency. Caleb Durbin was projected to have that role, but he went to Milwaukee as part of the trade for Williams. The oft-injured and aging DJ LeMahieu will have a chance to prove he still has something left in the tank, but if the Yankees don’t make another move, that spot will come down to him and some combination of Oswald Peraza and Oswaldo Cabrera.
Russell Steinberg covers Major League Baseball and the New York Liberty for ClutchPoints. A baseball and basketball lifer, he has written for Boardroom, SLAM, SB Nation, The Next, and more. He graduated from NYU in 2012 and still returns to serve as PA announcer and occasional broadcaster for the school’s basketball and volleyball teams.
