Let me be frank: I do not like the promotion of Cam Smith to the major league roster. Smith is a 2024 draftee with 32 games of minor-league experience. He mostly played 3b and now he will play RF for the first time in his life. This move reeks of the Anaheim Angels. I hope I’m wrong, but I hate the move.
The 2025 Houston Astros may not be very good. They have question marks all over the bullpen, in the back of the rotation, and throughout the lineup. The one anchor for the past decade, Jose Altuve, is now playing left field.
There is much harm that can be done to exposing Cam Smith to major league pitching while learning a new position. It could wreck his confidence. It could damage his trade value. It could hurt the team. It could hurt Zach Dezenzo.
There is a lot we don’t know. Can Dezenzo be a regular? Can Chas bounce back? Does Brandon Rodgers deserve to be the everyday second-baseman? All of these questions will be harder to answer because Dana Brown has decided to take a huge risk. A risk at odds with the conventional wisdom of the industry. A risk with the potential to make him look stupid.
What happens if Smith starts the season 1-32? Will Brown admit defeat, or will he stubbornly stick to his guy? What happens when Smith flubs a fly ball that costs his team the game? There is no roster flexibility with Yordan at DH and thus nowhere for Smith to go to cover up his deficient out-fielding. Once Walker is ready, which could be any day, there is no way for Dezenzo and Smith to both get regular playing time? Why harm the development of Dezenzo, who has proven it at the highest levels of the minors, for the sake of Cam Smith? Is Smith really that much more likely to produce?
Only bush-league front offices pull this kind of move. Sure, if Smith has a great two weeks he will be the talk of the town. But this is major league baseball. We have decades of data to show that players need seasoning and reps before they’re ready to handle what the best pitchers in the world have to offer. Smith is not a can’t miss prospect. He’s not a top 10 or top 20 prospect. The industry puts him in the back half of the top 100.
I will be happy to be proven wrong. Justin Dirden had a nice spring in 2023, and Loperfido showed more pop last spring. Brown traded one of the best players in the world to the Cubs and wants to make it seem like he won the trade.
There is no harm in starting Smith at Corpus. If he looks great there and the Astros are struggling, have him skip AAA and join Houston in the middle of May. Dana Brown has lost me here. He may lose the clubhouse and half of the front office with this move.