Seth

Smith

He took Tommy Hunter deep in the seventh inning. Smith’s second home run of the season came in his first multi-hit effort. Smith and the pitcher-friendly American League West have proven to be a disastrous couple, as the former Boston outfielder is hitting just .211/.361/.316. A platoon player, he won’t be worth owning in a large majority of mixed leagues even if he starts to hit.

It’s Smith’s first homer as a member of the Athletics and just his ninth hit in his first 44 at-bats. Unsurprisingly, the move from Colorado to Oakland has sapped any upside in the power department. Smith is unlikely to reach the 15.6 homers per year he averaged over the previous three seasons.

Apparently Crisp still isn’t over his recent flu bug. Seth Smith will make the start in left field Friday while Jonny Gomes serves as the designated hitter.

Cespedes was scratched from Tuesday’s lineup due to a sore left wrist and is scheduled to undergo X-rays on Wednesday. We should know more about his status within the next few hours. Josh Reddick will make the start in center field Wednesday afternoon while Seth Smith plays right and Jonny Gomes starts in left.

Smith got the scoring started in the fourth inning with an RBI single off Daniel Bard, then added an RBI double off him in the sixth. Though he’s only hitting .215 on the season, Smith possesses a strong .358 on-base percentage and has been a dependable bat in the middle of the Oakland order. He’s worth owning in AL-only leagues.

We’re assuming he’s just getting the night off. Coco Crisp will start in center field Monday while Seth Smith will play left and Kila Ka’aihue will DH.

Crisp first started having lingering inner-ear and sinus infections over two weeks ago and has missed quite a few games already. He had to be removed from Wednesday’s game after another flare-up, and the A’s have decided to no longer treat it as a day-to-day ailment. Michael Taylor will replace him on the roster, but Seth Smith and Jonny Gomes would figure to see most of the starts in left field.

Smith has really turned it around at the plate lately. He is 11-for-29 with six RBI this month after going 11-for-57 with five RBI in April.

The Rockies have shopped Smith throughout the winter, but he’s even more expendable following the signing of Michael Cuddyer. The Braves might be the best match of the teams mentioned by Morosi, but the Rockies would likely have to include a minor leaguer or two to pry someone like Martin Prado away. Smith batted .284/.347/.483 with 15 homers, 59 RBI and an .830 OPS this past season and figures to make close to $3 million in arbitration.

It would make sense, as the Reds are looking for outfield help and the Rays need a solution at catcher. It’s not clear at this point, though, if the moves could still possibly go down or if discussions took place but didn’t really go anywhere. If the Reds did move Hanigan, they could install Devin Mesoraco as their everyday catcher.