Mets Interested in Seth Smith for Some Reason

Fox News reported on Thursday that the Mets are among five teams who are “interested” in Rockies outfielder Seth Smith. And I have one simple question — why?

Smith is a corner outfielder who has proven to be steady and unspectacular in his career. Very steady, in fact; in his three full seasons in the majors he has hit 15, 17 and 15 home runs with 55, 52 and 59 RBIs. He’s a .275 hitter. Now, take him out of the Mile High City and watch those already mediocre numbers drop.

Plus, Smith is in his first year of arbitration and is estimated to earn $2.5 million to $3 million. That a lot of money for not a whole lot of production. Lucas Duda will easily beat Smith’s numbers for far less money.

Fox writes the Rockies want “major-league-ready pitching or a second baseman in return for Smith.” Mets Blog reports that there were rumors last week that the Mets were discussing a Smith-Jonathon Niese swap, but ESPN quickly reported that the Mets were not interested in such a deal.

They better not be because that would be a disastrous trade. I don’t want them to trade Niese at all, but if they do, they’d better get much more than Seth Smith.

As far as a second baseman, I definitely wouldn’t trade Daniel Murphy for him. I wouldn’t even part with Justin Turner.

I can’t imagine that the cost-conscious Mets would make any sort of deal for Smith unless they can somehow unload Jason Bay’s contract. Since that is unlikely to happen the chance of seeing Seth Smith roaming the outfield in Citi Field seems remote.