Dom Smith is once again a free agent.
The veteran infielder exercised his opt out clause in his deal with the New York Yankees on Sunday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported. Smith appeared in 45 games for New York’s Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, and batted .255 with eight home runs and 28 RBI.
Seven of Smith’s eight home runs came in the month of May.
Smith, who signed a minor league deal with the Yankees in January, spent the 2024 season with the Red Sox and the Cincinnati Reds. During his time in Boston, Smith quickly became well-liked among the fans. But once Triston Casas was activated from the injured list Boston designated Smith for assignment before ultimately releasing him.
Four days later Smith signed a major-league deal with the Reds. He played in nine games and batted .192 with five hits and four runs.
The 29-year-old had some big moments with the Red Sox and provided some consistency at first base with Casas sidelined for a chunk of the season. In 83 games for Boston (69 starts), Smith hit .237 with six home runs, 20 doubles and a .706 OPS.
Smith also threw three shutout innings for the Red Sox and gave up two hits.
The Red Sox do find themselves in a bit of a pickle at first base with Casas set to miss the rest of the season due to a serious knee injury that required surgery. But Abraham Toro has found a groove, and Kristian Campbell will likely get reps at first at some point this season.
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