Diamondbacks Outright Pavin Smith

The Diamondbacks sent first baseman Pavin Smith outright off the roster, according to the MiLB.com transaction tracker. That’ll drop their 40-man roster tally to 33. Smith always seemed likely to lose his roster spot this offseason. Arizona already sent him through outright waivers around the All-Star Break. They called him back up in September in hope of finding a jolt against right-handed pitching. Smith managed a pinch-hit, walk-off home run to beat the Yankees on September 19 and had a big final two weeks. He had hit just .141/.236/.192 in 89 plate appearances before losing his MLB spot, though. MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz projected Smith for a $2.5MM arbitration salary. This functions as an early non-tender of the former #7 overall pick. Smith will almost certainly file for free agency in the next day or two. He’ll take a league average .242/.325/.398 career slash line to the open market. Arizona will be in the market for left-handed bats and will need to acquire at least one player to slot at first base or designated hitter. Jake Bauers is the top free agent first baseman but is attached to a qualifying offer and likely out of Arizona’s price range. Ty France, Alec Bohm, Josh Bell, Nathaniel Lowe, Joc Pederson, Eugenio Suárez and George Springer are available as free agent first base/DH types. The trade market could feature Andrew Vaughn (especially if Bauers accepts the QO to stay in Milwaukee), Spencer Torkelson, Royce Lewis and Jake Burger. View Comments (0)