Mets non-tender Dominic Smith, Sean Reid-Foley
Mets non-tender Dominic Smith, Sean Reid-Foley
The Mets also claimed William Woods off waivers from the Braves on Friday
The Mets non-tendered 1B Dominic Smith and RHP Sean Reid-Foley on Friday night, the team announced in a statement. Both players are now free agents.
The move to non-tender the 27-year-old Smith really comes at no surprise, as there really was no place on the roster for him at the conclusion of the 2022 season, to the point he wasn’t even recalled in September when rosters expanded. He was the club’s first selection in the 2013 amateur draft, and he has a lifetime .733 OPS over parts of six big league seasons.
He posted an .881 OPS over 89 games in 2019 in what appeared to be a stepping stone in Smith’s career - he followed that season up with a .993 OPS in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, hitting 10 home runs with 42 RBI over 50 games.
But his career has since taken a downturn, as Smith has hit just .233/.298/.345 with 11 home runs and 75 RBI over 203 games since the start of the 2021 season.
Smith was sent to Triple-A Syracuse on July 16 and never returned to the Mets.
Reid-Foley, 27, made just seven appearances for the Mets in 2022 before undergoing Tommy John Surgery and missing the entire season following his relief appearance on April 30.
The Mets tendered contracts to all of their remaining arbitration-eligible players on Friday, including Jeff McNeil, Pete Alonso, Drew Smith, Joey Lucchesi, and Tomás Nido.
The roster moves free up two 40-man roster spots for the Mets, which currently stands at 33.
Earlier today, the Mets claimed RHP William Woods off waivers from the Braves. The 23-year-old made two relief appearances for Atlanta this past season, his only big league appearance. He has a 4.60 ERA in his minor league career with 113 strikeouts over 107 innings. He pitched in the Arizona Fall League in 2022, allowing 12 earned runs in 12.2 IP over nine appearances, two starts.