The Mets placed the first baseman Dominik Schmidt on the 10-day injured list due to a sprained right ankle, according to a team announcement. The move is retroactive to July 17, allowing Smith to return mid-next week at best.
Smith’s placement on the IL comes less than two weeks before the August 2nd close. He was an obvious change of scene candidate for much of the season and was reportedly the subject of talks with both the Cubs and Red Sox. Smith’s placement on the IL in no way precludes the possibility of a trade; Aside from the fact that he can return before the deadline, it’s not uncommon for players to get flipped even during the 10 or 15 day IL. (Look no further than Boston’s acquisition of Kyle Schwarber Last summer.) That said, it shakes the Mets, especially since they’d sell Smith low to begin with.
The 27-year-old Smith hit .299/.366/.571 in 396 plate appearances with the Mets from 2019-20 and looked like he was living up to his status as a former first-round pick and top-100 prospect. In the two seasons since that time, however, he’s only managed a .233/.298/.345 batting line in 645 plate appearances, played through a partial labrum tear in his right shoulder last season and struggled through inconsistent seasons so far in 2022. The Mets selected Smith to Triple-A Syracuse in late May, and while he was batting fairly well in the minors and has been slightly better since his return in late June, overall results this season have been pretty poor.
Smith is owed the remainder of a $3.95 million salary for the 2022 season and will be eligible for arbitration two more times before becoming a free agent after the 2024 season — assuming he has posted a contract, of course. He currently looks like a clear non-tender candidate for a Mets team that can’t afford him regular playing time upon his return from the IL, although another club might welcome a chance to buy cheaply from Smith and hope for Regular At -Bats bring the production closer to its 2019-20 form.