With the team falling further and further behind the NL Central leading Milwaukee Brewers, the Cincinnati Reds decided to go ahead and make a roster move on Monday. The team designated first baseman Dominic Smith for assignment, promoting outfielder Blake Dunn from Triple-A Louisville to take his place. The team announced the move on their X, formerly Twitter, account.

Smith was with the team for a little over a week, hitting .192 over 29 plate appearances. Not the best of results for the 29-year-old, but he did have a better run with the Boston Red Sox earlier this year. He could potentially add something to a contender as they head towards the postseason, but he can't play with his new team if they do qualify. Since Smith really doesn't have too much defensive versatility, cutting him loose now made sense for the Reds. President of baseball operations Nick Krall and the front office, along with manager David Bell, need to see what they have in players like Dunn for next year and more.

Dom Smith, Reds are heading down different paths

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Given his lack of defensive versatility (Smith usually only plays first base and occasionally left field, along with designated hitter) and his form at the plate the last few seasons, the best thing that the now former Red could provide his future team is the ability to be a bench bat with some pop. His two best seasons were in 2019 and 2020. Since then, he's hit .241 in over 1,500 plate appearances. Not great, but there are certainly a lot of players that have performed worse than him over the same time frame.

Yet, the timing of his release will definitely hurt his market. It wouldn't make a lot of sense for a postseason contender to sign him, especially since he couldn't play on their playoff roster if they were to go into the tournament. He could possibly get a decent amount of playing time for a non-contender, but most of them are in the same spot as the Reds. They would likely want to play younger players to see the field on a regular basis, and that's something Smith isn't anymore.

Meanwhile, Cincinnati will try to finish the 2024 season off strong. They have loads of young talent both on the major league roster and in the minors. Even though they haven't made the playoffs since 2020, with a few more things breaking their way next season, they could clinch a spot in the 2025 postseason. With exciting talent such as shortstop Elly de la Cruz and the recently promoted Rhett Lowder at starting pitcher, the future could be much brighter at Great American Ballpark. Maybe as soon as Opening Day 2025.