The Diamondbacks announced that first baseman Pavin Smith cleared waivers and was sent straight to Triple-A Reno. The Snakes appointed Smith to the job last week.
Smith has the right to opt for free agency but will not be able to do so. Players with at least three years of service time have the right to outright reject assignments in favor of the open market. But if they have less than five years of service, they must waive their remaining salary obligations to exercise that right. Smith is in that three-to-five window and makes $2.25MM this year. That leaves about $900K outstanding. Assuming he doesn’t want to leave that on the table, Smith will report to Reno.
There have been times in the past when Smith seemed to be an important part of Arizona’s future. The club selected him with the seventh pick in the 2017 draft and he became one of the club’s top prospects.
When he was called up to the majors, he didn’t improve immediately, but he showed up in 2024. He spent most of the first half of that season as an option but got some good playing time late in the year and capitalized on it. He finished the year with only 158 plate appearances, but they were good. His 11.4% walk rate and 19.6% strikeout rate were both above average numbers and he hit nine home runs. His .270/.348/.547 slash line led to a 142 wRC+, which means he was 42% better than league average at the plate overall.
He had another great season in 2025, finishing that year with a .258/.362/.434 line and a 123 wRC+, but with some concerns. Although his walk rate increased to 14.2%, his strikeout rate increased to 31.9%. He was even worse outside of the platoon advantage, hitting .167/.375/.167 against lefties. His overall production got a lot of help from a .377 batting average on balls in play. And he was very bad after the red start. He had a .342/.473/.630 line through April but then hit .222/.311/.351 the rest of the way.
By 2026, the Snakes hoped he could at least be a solid team guy. They signed Carlos Santana to help protect Smith from the southpaws but both players were soon injured. Left elbow inflammation put Smith on the shelf after just two games. He came back in early June but couldn’t get into the dugout. He has a .141/.236/.192 line this year. A minuscule .167 BABIP has hurt him badly and he’s brought his strikeout rate back to a career-best 20.2% clip, but he also has just one game in 89 plate appearances.
The Snakes decided to move on and no other club in the other 29 decided to stop him. Assuming he accepts the assignment, the Diamondbacks will see if a win in Reno can get Smith back on track. If that happens, there’s not much stopping him from getting playing time, as the Snakes currently use a utility player. Tim Tawa at the beginning of many days. On the other hand, a club can look for a first-time player before the deadline if they are comfortable enough to buy. They are currently 2.5 games back of the playoff spot.
If Smith is not added to the roster before the end of the season, he will become a free agent, like all players with at least three years of service who were removed from the 40-man roster last year.
Photo courtesy of Mark J. Rebilas, Imagn Images
