Cam Smith makes Astros roster- Are the times changing?

[chpettit19]

Another youngster with very little experience making a jump to the majors. 

Cam was the 14th pick in last year's draft and was traded (as part of a larger package of players) from the Cubs to the Astros over the offseason for Kyle Tucker. He played 32 games in the minors last year, including just 5 at AA. He had 20 PAs in the upper minors (all in those 5 AA games). 

The Angels have been the most aggressive team in recent years with promoting players. Zach Neto was the 13th pick in 2022 (5 spots after Brooks Lee) and was shortstop for the Angels on April 15th of 2023. In 2023 they drafted Nolan Schanuel 11th overall, and he was at first base in LA on August 18th of that year. Many feel it is just a matter of time before Christian Moore is between them at 2B after he was taken 8th overall last year.

The Athletics took Jacob Wilson with the 6th pick in 2023 and had him at SS on July 19, 2024 (he was sent back down after, but was back for September) after just 79 minor league games. 

Paul Skenes made 12 minor league starts for Pittsburgh after going #1 overall in 2023. And I'd argue (very strongly) that that was too many. Keeping him in the minors to start last year cost them a draft pick and they didn't get an extra year of service time for it anyways.

Wyatt Langford went #4 in 2023 and played 44 minor league games that season before debuting on opening day for the defending World Series champions last year.

Jackson Holliday was likely the most famous Jackson to debut last year at the age of 20, but very much the least successful and the latest. He didn't debut until the Orioles' 11th game on April 10th, and had a rough first go of things. He's played 155 minor league games before he debuted.

Jackson Chourio was another of the 20-year-old Jacksons to debut last year. He played many more minor league games as an international free agent signing (didn't have to wait to be drafted after high school). Including 134 games in the upper minors. He had also signed an MLB contract before his debut. So, he debuted on opening day. And was a star by the end of June.

Jackson Merrill rounds out our Jackson trio. Jackson debuted at the age of 20 (turned 21 in April, though) playing a position he'd never played before last spring (CF after having spent his entire life as a SS). He had 46 games in AA under his belt with just a .782 OPS there. Young Mr. Merrill was also a star by the end of June.

These are just the names that I have off the top of my head. There may be more the last couple years I'm not thinking of.

Are the times changing? Are we going to see more and more teams turning to more and more young players sooner and sooner in their careers? What's driving it? Is it going to hurt players or help them? The Twins were relatively aggressive with Brooks Lee and even got Walker Jenkins to AA in his first year. Are they already following any new aggressive promotion trend?

[Seth Stohs]

The Twins are moving guys faster through the system than 8-10 years ago, for sure. But I don't think anyone other than maybe the Angels actually plans for it. They have a pitcher who hasn't thrown a single pitch in the minor leagues since being drafted last summer and he made their team. 

It's still a pretty rare exception to find these examples.

[Riverbrian]

College Age players should be rushed (for lack of a better term). There is a huge disparity between the IFA signed at age 17 out of the DR and the drafted college player at age 22. I'll even call it an unfairness rather than a disparity.

The 17 year old IFA needs to be added to the 40 man or lost in Rule 5 right about the same age that the college player is leaving Florida State. 

After doing his time in college. If Cam Smith is never sent down. He will be a free agent at 28. 

On the other end of the spectrum just to point out the extremes. If the Astros waited until Dec 2027 to add him to the 40 man to protect him from rule 5. Used all 3 options and 6 years of service time. Cam Smith would not reach free agency until he is eligible for AARP. 

That's quite a range. 

College players should be rushed a bit and this sort of thing makes me happy. 

 

 

 

[chpettit19]

6 hours ago, Seth Stohs said:

The Twins are moving guys faster through the system than 8-10 years ago, for sure. But I don't think anyone other than maybe the Angels actually plans for it. They have a pitcher who hasn't thrown a single pitch in the minor leagues since being drafted last summer and he made their team. 

It's still a pretty rare exception to find these examples.

I definitely don't think other teams are planning for it. It just feels like more of them are becoming more and more open to it. Michael Harris is another one who skipped AAA a few years ago. It's definitely still rare. And I haven't taken the time to actually go look into the numbers to see how many guys are going quicker so it may just be my perception mixed with the Angels going wild. But I named 10 guys above. That feels like a larger number than usual. Just off the top of my head. Over the last 2 seasons.

[nicksaviking]

And it's not just the big market clubs doing it because they know they can afford these players later. I'd 100% be confident the Pirates promoted Skenes just to sell tickets (because they have the worst and cheapest owner in the game) but the Brewers and Orioles obviously promoted their players because they actually wanted to win. 

Why the A's did it is anyone's guess. That's a crazy, messed up, crooked situation there.

Still not convinced the Twins leadership has the mental fortitude to do it though. From being fearful of young players, to being fearful of losing their jobs, to worrying about money and always trying to straddle the fence between short-term and long-term decisions, they're the complete package of indecisiveness and non-committal.

[Jocko87]

On 3/26/2025 at 1:09 AM, Seth Stohs said:

But I don't think anyone other than maybe the Angels actually plans for it. They have a pitcher who hasn't thrown a single pitch in the minor leagues since being drafted last summer and he made their team. 

I think this is the less obvious but more important trend.  This guy for the Angels probably has no shot for any of the comp picks, rookie of the year etc but he's a guy they think can help.  The mindset change probably has something to do with realizing that we need to use these guys while they are performing best and being older isn't always better.

I think the advanced analytics mostly better informs the promotion process.  They can tell right away if a pitch will play.  Then check a few more boxes and get in the pen, son.  Dude got shelled the first time out though.

I do loath the word manipulation when used to discuss service time, thems the rules everyone agreed to, so no surprise that tweaking the rules to incentivize faster promotion helps.  It's only part of the story though.

The further discussion of the accelerated promotions is early extensions, we are seeing more of them as well.  And unfortunately, it makes a tougher market for the solid role player vets.

 

[Wellimam]

Yeah, it seems like teams are starting to take more risks with young talent. I think it’s part of the shift toward trying to get cheap, early production out of these players while they’re still under team control for a few years. With the way player contracts are structured now, teams want to get a good return on their investment as quickly as possible.

The aggressive approach can work if the player is ready, but there’s a risk of rushing them too fast, which can stunt their development. A lot of these guys might struggle at first, but if they can adapt quickly, it can give them a huge advantage going forward. As for the Twins, they’ve definitely shown a willingness to promote early, and it looks like they’re trying to get ahead of the curve with talent development.