A familiar face is back in New York – according to YES Network’s Jack Curry, the Yankees have signed 1B/OF Dom Smith to a minor-league deal.
Smith, now 29, split last year between the Reds and Red Sox, slashing .233/.313/.378 with six home runs and 34 RBI in 93 games. He also hit .263 in 21 games with the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate.
Originally the No. 11 overall pick in 2013 by the Mets, Smith debuted in 2017 and had his best season in the 2020 pandemic-shortened campaign, where he hit .316 with a .993 OPS and 10 homers in 177 at-bats. However, the bat waned in 2021, when he became the Mets’ full-time left fielder in full deference to Pete Alonso, and he ended up leaving as a free agent after the 2022 season.
Smith spent 2023 playing first base for the Nationals before splitting last season with the three above teams, and he has been exclusively a first baseman over the last three seasons.
The Yankees did sign Paul Goldschmidt to a one-year deal and have both DJ LeMahieu and Ben Rice on the 40-man roster (as well as Oswaldo Cabrera, who started two games at first in the postseason), but Smith gives them a veteran lefty bat in Triple-A, and worth noting is his career .352/.407/.685 line in 17 games at Yankee Stadium.