Mets team president Sandy Alderson was the featured guest on the Big Time Baseball Podcast with Jon Heyman recently, and covered a wide variety of topics including the current situation with free agent George Springer, and how Dominic Smith fits into the team’s plans.
When asked about Smith, Alderson was pretty clear, “Dom’s not going anywhere.”
Smith, 25, had a monster 2020 season (169 OPS+) after a breakout year in 2019, when he slashed .282/.355/.525 in 89 games.
“Look it’s not ideal, I get that, but we will just have to wait and see what happens with the DH…We like his offense obviously…Dom’s going to be on the team, hopefully he doesn’t have to play left field, but if he does, he does.”
Earlier in the podcast, Alderson also said the Mets would likely need to add at least one outfielder because the team currently only has two, Brandon Nimmo and Michael Conforto.
Alderson also mentioned that the outfielder would preferably be right-handed, as Nimmo, Conforto, and Smith are all left-handed hitters. Of course, the top free agent outfielder is the right-handed Springer, and Alderson said the Mets were still “loosely engaged” with him during the appearance.
It’s pretty obvious that the universal DH staying for 2021 (and beyond) would be a boost for the Mets, it would allow them to play Smith a ton at first base and use Pete Alonso as the designated hitter. Not only allowing them to get all their bats in the lineup, but also improving the defense at first base.
Regardless of where he ends up on the lineup card, Smith has shown he’s ready to play everyday.
