New York Mets: Three potential Dominic Smith trade destinations

Colorado Rockies

The Colorado Rockies owner, Dick Monfort let fans know that this offseason will be a unique one given the economic state for a lot of franchises. With Daniel Murphy entering free agency, Smith would be an ideal candidate to take over the first base duties in Denver. Josh Fuentes who saw time at first for the Rockies in 2020 benefitted greatly from playing at Coors Field as his batting average was almost 150 points higher at home than on the road.

Most batters benefit from the friendly play of Coors, but with Smith being two years younger and being a far more consistent bat, he’d be an upgrade over Fuentes.

Nolan Arenado’s displeasure in Colorado is well known and given that the Mets are in the market for a right-handed bat as well as a full-time third baseman, a trade between these two makes perfect sense.

Arenado is a perennial gold glover, having received the award in seven of the eight seasons in his career. In Nolan, the Mets would have an upgrade at the third base position, especially on the defensive end. The hot corner saw multiple occupants during the 2020 season, with J.D. Davis seeing the most action there (55% of games) and having a full-time, every day third baseman would benefit this club immensely.

It seems silly to have concerns about a five-time all-star and four-time Silver Slugger, but Arenado is not without some concern. Having spent his entire career in the hitter-haven that is Coors Field, Arenado has seen some stark splits when playing at home and on the road.

Arenado’s career splits:

Home – .322/.376/.609/.985

Away – .263/.322/.471/.793

These are drastic splits, especially in the power department. This isn’t to say Arenado wouldn’t be an upgrade to the lineup, but the expectation shouldn’t be what we may be used to seeing in Colorado.

There’s also the contract situation. Nolan is owed $35M in 2021 and also has a player-option at the end of the year. It would make sense that if the Mets were trading for Arenado, it would be with the long term in mind, so even if he opted out, the Mets would certainly try to resign him. If Arenado didn’t opt-out at the end of 2021, he’d be owed that same $35M through the 2026 season.

The gold glover turns 30 next April and so the Mets would have to decide if trading Smith would be worth it to pay a hefty amount of money for the latter years of Arenado’s career, while most likely being rewarded over the next two to three seasons.

Cleveland Indians

The Mets are most certainly going to look for an upgrade to their rotation through free agency as well as through the trade market. While rumors have picked up recently regarding the possibility of Francisco Lindor being moved to Flushing, including Dom in a bigger package along with prospects would help in the Indians adding one of their arms into the mix.

While the package would center around Lindor, the Mets should push to have Zach Plesac added into the deal as well. For the Indians, they’d probably be more inclined to move Carlos Carrasco who is set to make $11M in 2021 and is 33 years old. However, with a package of prospects, and two major league established players such as Amed Rosario and Smith, the Mets could be in a position to bolster their rotation and maintaining their roster’s youth.

Plesac, who will turn 26 next January, was the center of some controversy this season when he and Mike Clevinger decided to go out partying, resulting in positive COVID tests and causing a rift within the clubhouse.

Clevinger was shipped to San Diego and rumors of Plesac being traded swirled as well. In eight starts in 2020, Plesac pitched to the tune of a 2.28 ERA, with a WHIP under 1.00 and 57 strikeouts over 55 innings pitched. It’s an eight-game sample, but those eight starts were a drastic improvement from Plesac’s rookie year in 2019 which ERA of 3.81 and a FIP of nearly 5.00.

The Mets could try to pry away Triston McKenzie, but given what we saw in 2020, it might be a steeper price to try to include him in a package with Lindor. Plesac seems like a more realistic option as a trade chip while also providing upside potential.

If the Mets wanted to include Smith in a trade to Cleveland, it would give them an opportunity to add to their rotation of 2021 as almost an aside to what would otherwise be a mega-deal in landing Lindor.

With Carlos Santana being a free agent, the Indians would be able to have an established first baseman in their lineup that is under team control and cost efficient. Not being known to retain their stars, Cleveland could look to rebuild their team and make Smith part of their core moving forward.

Houston Astros

Since the Mets are in the market for pitching depth, the Houston Astros could pair nicely in a trade this winter.

The Astros proved that they’re still a very good baseball team, even after the entire cheating scandal. Benefitting from a larger playoff format and a shortened season, the Astros were able to make a run all the way to the ALCS in 2020 and should be looking to stay competitive for the next few years.

Yuri Gurriel who manned first base for the Astros is 36 and will be turning 37 by June of next year. With Yordan Alvarez mostly serving as a DH, Smith could fit nicely into their current core, while also providing an injection of youth.

Justin Verlander will be returning next year from Tommy John surgery and the emergence of Framber Valdez to accompany the arms of Cristian Javier and Lance McCullers could help Houston’s decision to move an arm from their farm system. After trading away Zack Greinke, the Astros could try to hold onto their young arms. However, Forrest Whitley has struggled in the minors and the top prospect, who was once labeled untouchable has had that label removed in the latest discussions with their general manager.

While Dom would be missed in Queens, the possibility of having young arms to reinforce Jacob deGrom in the rotation is a high priority for the Mets and Houston could line up as a nice trade partner.

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