Dominic Smith was the New York Mets’ top pick in last year’s Amateur Player Draft, the 11th overall pick in the nation. The 18-year-old first baseman spent most of his first professional season with the Gulf Coast League Mets, and Baseball America named him the 4th best prospect in the league.
After just one pro season, Smith also made Baseball America’s list of the top ten prospects in the New York Mets’ farm system, again coming in at number four.
“Smith earned rave reviews from scouts for his hitting and defense coming out of high school in Southern California.” wrote Baseball America’s Ben Bader in September. “With a sweet lefthanded swing, good bat speed, hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition, Smith has the potential to be a plus hitter and get on base at a high clip… with above-average future power potential.”
Without a doubt, Smith is years away from making an impact in Flushing. And to put things in further perspective, the last Mets’ prospect to come in higher than Smith in Baseball America’s Gulf Coast League prospect rankings was Jefry Marte in 2008 – the same Jefry Marte who was traded for Collin Cowgill last off-season and has yet to make it past Double-A.
Still, in the middle of winter, it’s nice to be able to dream about a future with baseball games and home-grown stars.
For a player who has been a pro for less than a year, Smith has a ton of baseball cards already. Beckett Media’s catalog includes more than 100 (counting various parallel versions.)
The one I am showing here is Smith’s base card from last year’s Bowman Draft Picks & Prospects set, which was included in a Christmas gift package from a friend and blog reader. There are eight Mets players and prospects in the set:
- #20 Zack Wheeler
- #TP-22 Noah Syndergaard
- #BDPP-1 Dominic Smith
- #BDPP-38 Andrew Church
- #BDPP-39 Casey Meisner
- #BDPP-40 Ivan Wilson
- #BDPP-72 Luis Guillorme
- #BDPP-107 Gaither Bumgardner
(As with nearly every baseball card I display on this blog, if you are seeing rounded corners, it’s an artifact of my blog theme – the actual card has standard 90 degree corners.)
You can follow Paul’s Random Baseball Stuff on Facebook or Google+, see my photos on Flickr and Instagram, and follow @PaulsRandomStuf on Twitter, where I talk about about a variety of things in addition to baseball.
PaulHadsall.com 