It is said that ‘everything falls by its own weight’ and Dominic Smith knew this when he opted for the New York Yankees, after stumbling with five different teams from 2023 to date, despite the fact that the Bombers’ lineup did not have a guaranteed place for him.
However, the Los Angeles native is not exactly a bad ballplayer, as from 2017 to 2022 he made a name for himself with the New York Mets, and perhaps those credentials were what opened the doors of Yankee Stadium, as in 477 games he hit 46 home runs and drove in 179 runs.
Smith’s tumbles before landing in the Bronx
The problem came later, just when the Queens team decided not to offer him a new contract in 2022 after a substantial drop in performance in which he had 134 at-bats in which he did not hit a home run on a single occasion.
Smith then went to the Washington Nationals, but lasted less than a year and became a free agent again, only to sign a minor league contract with the Chicago Cubs and then a month later leave for the Tampa Bay Rays, where he also did not last long. May 2024 came around and he finally returned to the majors, this time with the Boston Red Sox, where he recorded six home runs and 34 RBIs in 83 games.
At the end of the season, Smith left Fenway Park and signed a minor league contract with the Bronx Bombers, which he has just thrown away, as he was not guaranteed a spot on the roster.
Will the Yankees regret it?
Injuries to both of Giancarlo Stanton’s elbows and calf only served to accelerate what was inevitable with Dominic Smith, as Ben Rice was the lucky replacement for the slugger and this was the alarm bell that in recent years has not allowed him to settle in any team.
The question for the Yankees now is what if Rice gets injured, who will they rely on to fill the void? This is an important question after they opened the door for Mexican Alex Verdugo to emigrate to the Atlanta Braves.
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