Throughout this winter, the MMO staff will be discussing whether various players on the New York Mets’ roster should remain with the club for 2022 or get traded elsewhere. The first player up was Edwin Diaz. Now we will discuss outfielder/first baseman Dominic Smith.

Patrick Glynn Says: Hold Dominic Smith

So I think first what we need to decide is: what Dom Smith is the team going to get moving forward? The 2019-2020 Dom, that had a .937 OPS and 150 OPS+ over nearly 400 plate appearances? Or the everyday 2021 Dom, who struggled to find any consistency and had an OPS under .700 over nearly 500 plate appearances?

I think what we learned this season, though, is Dom can’t be an everyday left fielder over 162 games, both because of his defensive issues and the stamina it takes to play out there every day. He was essentially benched the last month of the season, only getting five starts, in part due to a personal issue, but also he was reportedly pretty physically beat up after playing nearly every day the first five months.

What the Mets can probably take solace in, though, is he’s *passable* (italicize) out there (as in, it’s not terrible if he starts 50 games in left), which is exactly what they’ll need in terms of versatility in 2022. With the designated hitter coming, too, perhaps Dom can find a happy medium between playing some first, left and DH over 400 plate appearances.

I think, like a handful of Mets, Dom suffered from a real down year offensively. At just $4 million in 2022, as projected by MLB Trade Rumors, it’ll be hard to find anyone else around baseball with his offensive upside (see: 2019-2020) on top of his ability to stick him in at three spots in the lineup. Even if Dom ends up as a premium bench bat, he has a career 1.037 OPS as a substitute over 116 plate appearances.

Plus, trading him now would only be selling him at his lowest value and limits who you could get in return. These are the exact sort of players championship-level teams have: high-quality bench bats with the upside of an above-average hitter if he needs to be plugged in as a starter for stretches.

Mike Mayer Says: Trade Dominic Smith

Patrick certainly makes a good point about Smith still being affordable and the Mets would be selling low. However, my focus on trading Smith revolves around him not having much of a fit on the Mets roster going forward.

Look, Smith is a well below average defensive outfielder with -9 OAA/-11 DRS during the 2021 season. Even if he was the hitter he was in 2020-2021, that type of defense limits his overall value. Combine that with Pete Alonso continuing to show that he’s an everyday first baseman and you don’t have a defensive position for Smith.

Of course it’s very possible that we see a universal DH for the 2022 season, but that still doesn’t guarantee a spot for Smith. Like it or not, the Mets have Cano on the roster and they have to pay him for the 2022 season whether they cut him or keep him. Plus they still have J.D. Davis –really a DH– on the roster too.

Combine the lack of a position to find playing time for Smith and his offensive production in 2021 (84 OPS+), Smith is a tough guy to roster unless you’re looking at a role that is mostly pinch hitting.

With the presence of Cano, Davis, and Alonso, I believe that trading Smith this offseason would be the Mets best course of action. The Mets need to find an everyday outfielder to add to the roster regardless of it being a left fielder or a center fielder that pushes Brandon Nimmo to left.