Mets' Smith on trade rumors: 'I love this team'

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Dominic Smith spent his off-day Saturday on the beach with his girlfriend, blissfully unaware that not only his name, but his reported intentions had surfaced in trade rumors. First came the news that Smith was one of the key pieces in a deal that would have sent starting pitcher Chris Paddack from San Diego to New York. Then came rumblings that Smith, who is not slated to be a full-time player on the 2022 Mets, might actually embrace a move.

Speaking publicly Monday for the first time since the rumors, Smith acknowledged that while he would love a chance to play more often, he’s happy in New York.

“That didn’t come from my mouth, but who wouldn’t want to play every day?” Smith said in response to the idea that he would welcome a trade. “Those exact words didn’t come from my mouth, but I’m here. It’s out of my control. I can’t trade myself, and I can’t put myself in the lineup. All I can do is show what I can, and that’s what I do out there on the field.”

Asked directly if he wants to be traded, Smith replied: “I never said that, either. That’s something that didn’t come out of my mouth. I’m here with the Mets. I love this team. I love this city, and we have a great team. I think everybody’s goal is to win a World Series, and this team has a pretty good chance to.”

The reality is that what’s best for the Mets does not necessarily align with what’s best for Smith. The Mets value Smith as a potent left-handed hitter who can play first base, left field, designated hitter, or come off the bench (as he might on Opening Day once Nationals lefty Patrick Corbin is out of the game). Smith won’t play as often as he’d like because he’s blocked by Pete Alonso at first, his natural position, and by a small army of players in left and at DH.

But if Smith does anything remotely similar to what he’s accomplished in Spring Training, he won’t lack for playing time. The left-handed slugger popped his second home run of spring in a 3-3 tie with the Astros on Monday, hitting the ball hard enough to slice it through a stiff breeze blowing in from right field for a three-run shot. That was Smith’s sixth extra-base hit in 12 Grapefruit League games. He’s hitting .440 overall, which doesn’t count the two home runs he clubbed off Max Scherzer in an intrasquad game.

“Dom, this isn’t his first time staying away from the noise,” manager Buck Showalter said, referencing the types of trade rumors that have followed Smith since Alonso’s emergence in 2019. “If we put everything out there that didn’t get out there, there would be noise every day. But you still are sensitive to it.”

For that reason, Showalter sat Smith down for a brief conversation following Saturday’s rumor churn, telling him that he would keep Smith abreast of what the organization is thinking. Smith didn’t hear from general manager Billy Eppler, nor did he feel he needed to.

“They don’t owe me an explanation,” Smith said. “That’s their job in the front office to make the decisions that are best for this organization and this club and this team, and I think they’re going to make the best ones.”

Showalter has continually painted trade rumors as a good thing, repeating Monday that “guys who aren’t good players don’t get talked about a lot.” Smith may have struggled last year as he played through a partially torn labrum in his right shoulder, but he posted a .937 OPS in the two years that preceded it, and he owns a 1.413 mark this spring.

He is, as far as the Mets are concerned, a good player who (probably) isn’t going anywhere.

“I’m here,” Smith said. “Like I told you, I don’t think I’ll get traded until it happens, and I’m happy to be here, happy to be a Met. I love this organization, I love this city and I love this team.”