Dominic Smith Returns to Majors, As New Team DFA's 2 Veterans
Former New York Mets first baseman Dominic Smith had a .782 OPS and eight homers in Triple-A with the NY Yankees before opting out of his minor league deal over the weekend. He's shown that he can help a team. And few teams need that help right now more than the falling San Francisco Giants.
Losers of seven of their last 10 games, the Giants have lost some serious ground in the tight three-team battle for the NL West. They've signed Smith to a major league deal and he'll be in their lineup Wednesday night.
The SF Giants,trying to stop their tailspin,shake up their roster:
— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) June 4, 2025
They sign OF Dominic Smith, DFA IF LaMonte Wade Jr and catcher Sam Huff, option IF Christian Koss to Sacramento, and call up OF Daniel Johnson and C Andrew Knizner.
The Giants have lost 14 of their last 23 games
GM Buster Posey said on Tuesday, "We're trying to exhaust all options," in an attempt to right the ship. Today, in addition to the Smith signing, they DFA'd two veterans, including longtime Giants first baseman Lamonte Wade Jr., along with catcher Sam Huff.
San Francisco has gone 16 consecutive games without scoring more than four runs, the franchise's longest such run in 60 years. They rank 28th of 30 teams in the majors in offense produced out of their first basemen this season. With a batting average of .185 and an OPS of .603 at the position—normally a position of power and production—the Giants needed to take a swing at something new. They hope that Smith comes out swinging himself.
Wade Jr. has been a regular (mostly platoon player) for the Giants for five years, but his .167 average this season was simply too much of an albatross to bear.
Dominic Smith signs major league deal with SF Giants
It's been a while since Smith was an impact bat in the majors, but in 2020, he earned some down-ballot MVP votes for his terrific shortened year with the Mets, batting .316 with a .993 OPS. He's had trouble getting back to that level, and has bounced around since 2023. Last year, he hit just .233 with a .691 OPS in 307 plate appearances split between the Boston Red Sox and Cincinnati Reds.
In 693 career big league games, Smith has a .246 batting mark with a .717 OPS, along with 64 home runs. He'll try to recapture his stroke with the Giants, and help re-ignite the team back into the race in the NL West division.
