March 20, 2025 • 6 mins
Dana Brown Talks Latest on Prospect Cam Smith Ahead of Start of Season
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
So one guy who a lot of Astros fans are
fired up about is Cam Smith. You know, came over
in the trade from the Cups for Kyle Tucker. And
it's always interesting whenever you have a trade of a
popular player like Tucker is, you know, sometimes there can
be pressure on the guys, sometimes unfairly to try and
live up to what the previous player provided or what
(00:21):
have you. With Cam Smith, it seems like he's just
come in and just run with it ever since he
got to the Astros organization.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I got to camp.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Look, there's nothing like the energy of youth, and so
Cam Smith is especially human being. First of all, he
has the great combination of humility and confidence, and so
you look for that in players because you know, these
players they go out and sometimes they have success, sometimes
they do not have success. And when you look at
(00:53):
a guy like Cam Smith, I think he's going to
be very successful. I think his head is in the
right space and so you know, look, we have some
tough decisions to make, but make no mistake, he's pretty special.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
What do you see put your scouting hat on right now.
What do you see in him that tells you that
he's going to be a special player.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Listen, you mentioned the scouting hat.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Look, I've been in baseball for thirty five years, and
so oftentimes, you know, you have to evaluate players, right,
but very rare do you get this type of player
that come along and you feel like he may be
a fit. And so, look, we're making some tough decisions,
and so, you know, we want to put our best
(01:39):
team forward, and so we're having these conversations about Cam Smith,
and you know, we we think he's really good, and
we think he has really good upside, and so we
have to make a decision. Look, are we going to
start him in the major leagues? He's going to go
to the minor leagues? What's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I'm just telling you right now, I love the way
this guy swings the bat. He has really good at bats,
He sees a lot of pitches, he's well advanced, and
so he's making it really tough for us.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I was talking to his scout a few weeks ago,
who saw Cam Smith and high school grew up right
here in West Palm Beach, and you know, he was
a third baseman then, and I asked the scout, I said,
what did you think of camp Smith. He's like, well,
obviously I like the bat, but he's like I saw,
He's like even though there's nothing wrong with him at third,
he said, I wrote down future right fielder and he's
(02:32):
out in right field. Was this I mean, obviously there's
a need there for the Astros, But was there a
thought when you acquired Cam Smith from the Cups that
I mean obviously, you know, you know, you want getting
Eastak parades and you know, kind of complicating things at
the time, Alex Brigman was still in play. But did
you think, hey, this is a guy that we could
that would fit in the outfield.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Potentially great question, maybe your best question.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Of the night.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Wow, So let me I'm peaking earlier. Yeah, let me.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Let me just put it to you this way. So,
as an evaluator, you go out, you scout players. I
happen to see Cam Smith play as an amateur before
he's drafted because I try to go out and see
our first round pick. And so Cam Smith was, you know,
playing in the SEC tournament. Oh sorry, sorry, ACC tournament.
And I'm like, man, this guy's really good. He's a
(03:22):
big dude. You know, Usually you don't see really large
of third basemen. You know you had Troy Glass, you
know you had Scott Roland, and you see, sometimes guys
are big. But I said, you know what, this guy
might end up in right field. You know, I'm not
saying he can't play third base, but ultimately, look, this
(03:43):
guy looks like he's taken to right field very well.
And the talent is pretty special, the humans pretty special,
The power is really good. He keeps his hands inside
the ball. Mack can talk all night about Cam Smith.
I could talk to midnight.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I got one more so the first question I heard
the reporters ask him at spring training before I got here.
We got here just a couple of days before the
game started, and one of the questions somebody asked was
what's special about your game?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
What what do you bring to the table.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
And I thought he was going to talk about maybe
the power or something like that, but he said, I
bring energy. And when we're talking about big guys like
Gloss and Scott Rowland, that's not the first thing you
think about is energy when you look at a big guy.
But I'll be darn if Cam Smith doesn't have the
most energy if anybody on the field. Typically, when I
watch this game, especially on the base pass, secondary leads
(04:35):
and things like that. He's got energy for a big guy.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Great energy. I'm a sucker for energy as a scout.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You come up as a scout, you learn that there's
one hundred and sixty two games you have to play.
It's a long season. If you don't have energy, you
have a long way to go. This guy was born
with the energy, and so I got to tell.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You, this guy brings energy every night.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
And so I think it's a special player, special human being.
He's got a chance to be really good, make a
big impact with the Astros. We're trying to make a decision,
you know, do we put them in the major leagues?
Do we start them in the minor leagues and let them,
you know, play a few games there. But you know,
make no mistake, I'm not afraid to put this guy
(05:21):
in the big leagues, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I just you know, we we're having these discussions right now.
And so.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
This guy is really good. I think he brings the energy.
I think he's going to be you know, he's going
to bring that same energy to our players. I think
our players love young players coming.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Up with energy.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I think this's got a chance to be something pretty special.
So we're working through it right now. But make no mistake,
we're really digging in deep, and this guy's got a
chance to be pretty special. I mean you, you guys
have seen the bat and he's playing right field now.
He looks like he's taken to it very well, and
(06:03):
so we'll see. But we're making we're making progress and
we're having good, good discussions.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
M
So one guy who a lot of Astros fans are
fired up about is Cam Smith. You know, came over
in the trade from the Cups for Kyle Tucker. And
it's always interesting whenever you have a trade of a
popular player like Tucker is, you know, sometimes there can
be pressure on the guys, sometimes unfairly to try and
live up to what the previous player provided or what
(00:21):
have you. With Cam Smith, it seems like he's just
come in and just run with it ever since he
got to the Astros organization.
Speaker 2 (00:29):
I got to camp.
Speaker 3 (00:31):
Look, there's nothing like the energy of youth, and so
Cam Smith is especially human being. First of all, he
has the great combination of humility and confidence, and so
you look for that in players because you know, these
players they go out and sometimes they have success, sometimes
they do not have success. And when you look at
(00:53):
a guy like Cam Smith, I think he's going to
be very successful. I think his head is in the
right space and so you know, look, we have some
tough decisions to make, but make no mistake, he's pretty special.
Speaker 4 (01:06):
What do you see put your scouting hat on right now.
What do you see in him that tells you that
he's going to be a special player.
Speaker 2 (01:15):
Listen, you mentioned the scouting hat.
Speaker 3 (01:17):
Look, I've been in baseball for thirty five years, and
so oftentimes, you know, you have to evaluate players, right,
but very rare do you get this type of player
that come along and you feel like he may be
a fit. And so, look, we're making some tough decisions,
and so, you know, we want to put our best
(01:39):
team forward, and so we're having these conversations about Cam Smith,
and you know, we we think he's really good, and
we think he has really good upside, and so we
have to make a decision. Look, are we going to
start him in the major leagues? He's going to go
to the minor leagues? What's going to happen?
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Right now?
Speaker 3 (01:57):
I'm just telling you right now, I love the way
this guy swings the bat. He has really good at bats,
He sees a lot of pitches, he's well advanced, and
so he's making it really tough for us.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
I was talking to his scout a few weeks ago,
who saw Cam Smith and high school grew up right
here in West Palm Beach, and you know, he was
a third baseman then, and I asked the scout, I said,
what did you think of camp Smith. He's like, well,
obviously I like the bat, but he's like I saw,
He's like even though there's nothing wrong with him at third,
he said, I wrote down future right fielder and he's
(02:32):
out in right field. Was this I mean, obviously there's
a need there for the Astros, But was there a
thought when you acquired Cam Smith from the Cups that
I mean obviously, you know, you know, you want getting
Eastak parades and you know, kind of complicating things at
the time, Alex Brigman was still in play. But did
you think, hey, this is a guy that we could
that would fit in the outfield.
Speaker 2 (02:51):
Potentially great question, maybe your best question.
Speaker 1 (02:54):
Of the night.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Wow, So let me I'm peaking earlier. Yeah, let me.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Let me just put it to you this way. So,
as an evaluator, you go out, you scout players. I
happen to see Cam Smith play as an amateur before
he's drafted because I try to go out and see
our first round pick. And so Cam Smith was, you know,
playing in the SEC tournament. Oh sorry, sorry, ACC tournament.
And I'm like, man, this guy's really good. He's a
(03:22):
big dude. You know, Usually you don't see really large
of third basemen. You know you had Troy Glass, you
know you had Scott Roland, and you see, sometimes guys
are big. But I said, you know what, this guy
might end up in right field. You know, I'm not
saying he can't play third base, but ultimately, look, this
(03:43):
guy looks like he's taken to right field very well.
And the talent is pretty special, the humans pretty special,
The power is really good. He keeps his hands inside
the ball. Mack can talk all night about Cam Smith.
I could talk to midnight.
Speaker 4 (03:59):
I got one more so the first question I heard
the reporters ask him at spring training before I got here.
We got here just a couple of days before the
game started, and one of the questions somebody asked was
what's special about your game?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
What what do you bring to the table.
Speaker 4 (04:13):
And I thought he was going to talk about maybe
the power or something like that, but he said, I
bring energy. And when we're talking about big guys like
Gloss and Scott Rowland, that's not the first thing you
think about is energy when you look at a big guy.
But I'll be darn if Cam Smith doesn't have the
most energy if anybody on the field. Typically, when I
watch this game, especially on the base pass, secondary leads
(04:35):
and things like that. He's got energy for a big guy.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
Great energy. I'm a sucker for energy as a scout.
Speaker 3 (04:41):
You come up as a scout, you learn that there's
one hundred and sixty two games you have to play.
It's a long season. If you don't have energy, you
have a long way to go. This guy was born
with the energy, and so I got to tell.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
You, this guy brings energy every night.
Speaker 3 (05:01):
And so I think it's a special player, special human being.
He's got a chance to be really good, make a
big impact with the Astros. We're trying to make a decision,
you know, do we put them in the major leagues?
Do we start them in the minor leagues and let them,
you know, play a few games there. But you know,
make no mistake, I'm not afraid to put this guy
(05:21):
in the big leagues, you know.
Speaker 2 (05:23):
I just you know, we we're having these discussions right now.
And so.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
This guy is really good. I think he brings the energy.
I think he's going to be you know, he's going
to bring that same energy to our players. I think
our players love young players coming.
Speaker 2 (05:41):
Up with energy.
Speaker 3 (05:42):
I think this's got a chance to be something pretty special.
So we're working through it right now. But make no mistake,
we're really digging in deep, and this guy's got a
chance to be pretty special. I mean you, you guys
have seen the bat and he's playing right field now.
He looks like he's taken to it very well, and
(06:03):
so we'll see. But we're making we're making progress and
we're having good, good discussions.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
M
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