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2024 MLB Draft Day 1 Thread

Jeremy Nygaard
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bukie All-Star

bukie

Old-Timey Member
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Every year I watch the draft on TV and every year I get annoyed when the announcing team questions a top 10 pick based on the current status of the franchises major league team. This year "Does it make sense for the Pirates to draft a prep player when their roster is so close to competing for a playoff spot?"

JD94 First Round Pick

JD94

Old-Timey Member
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Just now, CaliforniaRaisin said:

Per Eric Longenhagen, the Cubs are taking 

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Cam Smith

 

I’m just glad it’s not Malcom Moore. I like this pick 

Tryptamine South Bend Cubs

Tryptamine

Old-Timey Member
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1 minute ago, JD94 said:

I’m just glad it’s not Malcom Moore. I like this pick 

Scary that they have to rework the swing, but the upside is big.

JD94 First Round Pick

JD94

Old-Timey Member
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Just now, Tryptamine said:

Scary that they have to rework the swing, but the upside is big.

And I think he can stick at 3rd and play it well 

CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
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Fangraphs has Cam Smith as their 7th best draft prospect:

Quote

Cam Smith

TLDR

Full Report

Smith is an XL draft-eligible sophomore third baseman with rare defensive ability for a player his size. Smith is built like an outside linebacker at 6-foot-3 and 225 pounds or so. He slashed .331/.420/.594 during his career at Florida State and showed substantial improvement to his strikeout and walk peripherals as a soph.

Big all-fields power headlines Smith's profile. He's a super strong guy who can generate huge power with little mechanical distance. His swing changed in his sophomore year and he now looks like a more crouched Alec Bohm, with simple footwork, no stride with two strikes, a shallow load, and a bat path that tends to lift the ball less often than is ideal for someone with this kind of juice. Sometimes Smith's lower half is so stagnant that it looks like it's preventing him from getting to pitches on the outer edge; he ends up stuck in the mud and can't reach out there. The same could be said for Smith's swing overall, which detracts somewhat from his athleticism. He's strong enough to hit for power with a simple swing, though.

On defense, Smith has rare bend for an athlete his size and at times makes incredible plays for such a big guy. But his hands are inconsistent, and if he keeps growing and getting bigger into his 20s (think Miguel Sanó), he'll almost certainly lack the mobility to play third base. I'm personally more bullish about his ability to improve there than the general industry sentiment seems to be. Though he'll probably be a slow developmental burn relative to most college prospects, Smith's ceiling as a slugging everyday third baseman puts him in the mix for a top 10 pick.

Pipeline has him 14th: 

Quote

Cam

Smith

3B, Florida State

BioStatsNewsVideo

AGE

21

BATS

R

DOB

02/22/2003

THROWS

R

HT

6' 3"

WT

224

Video scouting report »

Scouting grades: Hit: 55 | Power: 50 | Run: 45 | Arm: 60 | Field: 55 | Overall: 55

A Top 100 prospect as the 2022 Draft approached, Smith’s commitment to Florida State as well as the fact that he was over 19 years old -- old for some team’s Draft models -- led to him not being selected. While he hit a dozen homers as a Seminoles freshman, he struggled at times to catch up to the higher level of competition. He caught up in a hurry over the summer, earning Most Outstanding Pro Prospect honors in the Cape Cod League after finishing with a .981 OPS, and he’s upped his game again during his Draft-eligible sophomore season.

At 6-foot-3, 220 pounds, Smith already looks the part with plenty of now strength. How much he hits will help dictate how consistently he can get to his plus raw power, and he’s answered that question well last summer and this spring. He struggled to stick to an approach and have quality at-bats during his freshman year, often chasing pitches out of the zone, but that was vastly improved on the Cape, with his miss rate dropping from 29 percent to 19 over the summer. It’s a trend that’s continued in 2024 as Smith continued keep the swing-and-miss to a minimum.

Smith runs better than he did in high school and has the chance to be a very good third baseman, with a strong arm, at the next level. His ability to duplicate, and even surpass, what he did on the Cape during his sophomore campaign in Tallahassee has allowed him to be the kind of college performer who is rising up boards.

BA has him 16th: 

Quote

16. Cam Smith

3B

Ht: 6'3" | Wt: 215 | B-T: R-R

Age: null

School: Florida State Commit/Drafted: Never Drafted
Age At Draft: 21.4
BA Grade: 50/High
Tools: Hit: 50. Power: 55. Run: 45. Field: 50. Arm: 60.

Smith was a pop-up player in high school who ranked as a top 100 prospect in the 2022 class thanks to his physicality, strength and power potential. He flashed those tools as a Florida State freshman in 2023 but ultimately struggled too much with strikeouts to fully capitalize. After the season, Smith overhauled his offensive approach and tweaked his setup in the box. Those changes led to more contact in the 2023 Cape Cod League, where he slashed .347/.406/.575 with six home runs in 44 games. Smith carried over those gains into his draft-eligible 2024 season and hit .402/.497/.677 with 16 home runs and 20 doubles heading into the College World Series. His strikeout rate fell from 28.7% in 2023 to just 15.2% in 2024. After previously using an upright stance in the box, Smith is now more grounded and crouched in his stance with an all-fields approach that has led to more contact but also more balls on the ground. Developing a healthy balance between the two could be the goal in pro ball, because Smith’s swing can be a bit manufactured and prevent him from fully tapping into his plus raw power. In addition to his mechanical adjustments and enhanced contact, Smith also showed a more patient and selective approach, which bodes well for his ability to make future adjustments. He has the tools to stick at third base with plus arm strength and adequate hands. He’s a solid runner underway but can take a few steps to get rolling.

Keith Law has him 19th: 

Quote

Scouting Report

Bats: R, Throws: R

Smith reworked his swing and his body last offseason, bouncing back from a .258/.326/.517 line as a 20-year-old freshman at FSU to a .387/.488/.654 line as a draft-eligible sophomore, improving in every possible way as a hitter. He’s looser and more free at the plate, and at least subjectively it looks like his bat speed has increased. He’s always had a short path to the ball, so now he’s getting the bat to the zone sooner and with more force.

Smith did hit extremely well on the Cape last summer, with a .347/.407/.575 line that put him fourth in slugging percentage among hitters with at least 100 PA there. He’s played third base in Tallahassee but scouts think he ends up at first or perhaps in an outfield corner, where he still profiles as an above-average regular thanks to his combination of power and patience.

ESPN/Kiley has him 17th.

CaliforniaRaisin GOAT

CaliforniaRaisin

Community Moderator
Posted
Posted
3 minutes ago, CubinNY said:

Where does he slot into the team’s prospect rankings? 8-10?

I think so.

I think general consensus is Horton, Ballesteros, Shaw, Caissie, Triantos, Rojas and Alcántara make the top 7 in some order.  I’d have Smith below all of them. Probably would take Smith over Wiggins who was my 8th prospect.

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