MLB News: NY Yankees Lose Veteran Slugger To Free Agency

He's gotten down-ballot MVP votes in the past. And now, on a minor league deal, he has batted .317 for the month of May with seven longballs. But without a call-up to the big club, New York Yankees veteran first baseman/outfielder Dominic Smith has decided to exercise his opt-out clause and become an unrestricted free agent.

Veteran 1B/OF Dom Smith is exercising his out clause with the New York Yankees, a source tells ESPN. Smith has been at AAA and had a big May, hitting .317/.389/.622 with seven home runs. He is now a free agent.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) June 1, 2025

Smith was with the Yankees during spring training on a minor league deal, and in 13 games, he hit .297 with a .568 slugging percentage with three home runs and 12 RBIs, making it seem plausible that he would break camp with the Bronx Bombers. But he opted out of the deal in the hopes he would find himself a major league contract elsewhere.

Dom Smith opts out of Yankees deal for second time this spring

It didn't happen, so the Yankees re-signed him once again to a minor league deal on March 31st. He's been with Scranton/Wilkes-Barre at Triple-A, where, after a slow start, he's gotten his OPS up to .782, and now, once again, he's opted out and will try to sell his wares to another team.

Smith was a first-round pick of the New York Mets in the 2013 MLB June Amateur Draft. He spent six years with the Metropolitans, becoming a star for them in the shortened 2020 season. He hit .316 with a .616 slugging percentage and a .993 OPS (with a 168 OPS+), and getting a handful of down-ballot MVP votes.

But he hasn't been able to live up to that in a full season, bouncing around between several teams since 2023, and last season, 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.