3 former NY Mets players could be the cure for what ails the Yankees

2) Dominic Smith

Dominic Smith was once one of the Mets’ best prospects and was a consensus top-100 prospect across all of baseball in 2016 and 2017. Although Smith once flashed the potential to be a good player, such as between 2019 and 2020 when he batted .299/.366/.571 with a 150 wRC+ and 21 homers in just 396 plate appearances, he’s never been able to find his footing in the Major Leagues since.

Last season, Smith hit just .233/.313/.378 with six home runs in 307 plate appearances between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds. While he walked at a healthy 9.1% rate, he also struck out about a quarter of the time with a 24.5% K%. His .145 isolated slugging percentage was also below average. Overall, he had just a .302 wOBA and 93 wRC+.

This poor season led to Smith only finding a minor league contract with the Yankees. To his credit, he is off to a good start in spring training, going yard twice in three games. He has played one of his games at first base, along with a second game in left field. Smith has only manned first base the last three seasons (minus three appearances as a pitcher in 2024) and hasn’t played left field regularly since 2021.

However, the Yankees do have a potential spot for Smith with designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton. The former MVP has been suffering a “very high” level of pain in both of his elbows, and it is unknown when he will return to action. Given this, the Yanks may see Smith as a potential short-term platoon option if Stanton only misses a short amount of time.