After ten years and 1,662 plate-appearances, it appears the Pavin Smith era in Arizona has ended. His time here is likely notable more for its length than its quality. In franchise history, only seven position players have appeared in more seasons for the Diamondbacks. But Smith was never a full-time, regular player: just once did he reach even ninety games, and he trails the likes of Orlando Hudson and Conor Jackson in PA as a D-back. He certainly wasn\u2019t great: his time here ends barely better than replacement (0.2 bWAR, 0.9 fWAR). But he wasn\u2019t expensive either: this was the first year Pavin earned any semi-significant amount. I\u2019d say he didn\u2019t deserve the brutal vitriol hurled at him by certain sections of online fandom.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was a sense of disappointment at Smith never living up to hopes and expectations. He was a first-round pick – and a high one at that, going seventh overall in the 2017 draft, as Mike Hazen\u2019s first ever selection. Admittedly, it wasn\u2019t a great class that year: excluding Drew Rasmussen, who didn\u2019t sign, only two of the top sixty players have reached even eight bWAR so far: Hunter Greene and Trevor Rogers [The most productive player has arguably been Daulton Varsho, selected after sixty-seven others] As a yardstick, the following year already has seven such. Arizona could have done worse. #4 in 2017, Brendan McKay, threw less than fifty innings at below replacement level, and #6 Austin Beck never reached the majors.<\/p>\n
At the time, John Sickels of Minor League Ball (remember that site?) wrote<\/a>, \u201cOverall few players offer the combination of safety and upside possessed by Smith.\u201d Pavin was immediately named the team\u2019s top prospect, and the following month was Arizona\u2019s only player listed in the overall top 100 prospects by MLB Pipeline, coming in at #75<\/a>. By the following spring, the general consensus was that he had been overtaken by pitcher Jon Duplantier – yeah, about that – but he was still the D-backs #2. However, a sluggish, power-depleted campaign in High-A, with only eleven HR in 120 games, saw him drop to the fringes of Arizona\u2019s top 10 for 2019.<\/p>\n Smith rebounded that year, his SLG jumping 74 points despite a promotion to Double-A. The following year saw the minor-league season wiped out by COVID-19, but Pavin still made his major-league debut as a September call-up. Down the stretch, he hit 10-for-37 and notched his first home-run, against the Phillies (above – I had quite forgotten how weird things were that season, with a stadium devoid of fans, cardboard cutouts and piped-in crowd noise). The following year saw Smith\u2019s sole campaign as a regular. He was much more an outfielder, starting at least five games at each OF spot, and making 98 of his 145 appearances there.<\/p>\n