Houston Astros Have Exciting Prospect Who Should Remain Atop Rankings This Year

The Houston Astros current top prospect should remain atop their rankings until he is ready to make his Major League debut

Jun 14, 2024; Omaha, NE, USA; Tennessee Volunteers shortstop Dean Curley (23) holds the throw to first base after forcing out Florida State Seminoles third baseman Cam Smith (24) during the first inning at Charles Schwab Filed Omaha / Steven Branscombe-Imagn Images

The Houston Astros made an incredibly bold move this offseason when they traded star right fielder Kyle Tucker to the Chicago Cubs.

It is a move that weakens the team’s lineup in 2025, as finding a replacement for Tucker will be virtually impossible.

Outfield was already an area of need entering the winter and they just moved their best two-way player from the equation.

It is a deviation from the norm of how the Astros normally handle things when their players are nearing free agency.

In the past, they have allowed homegrown players to test free agency and leave; George Springer and Carlos Correa come to mind as an example, and Alex Bregman looks likely to do it as well.

Alas, there is a difference in how each of those situations played out.

Houston was still a bonafide contender when Springer and Correa hit free agency, but after being eliminated by the Detroit Tigers in the Wild Card round and with Bregman an impending free agent, it was a perfect storm to get as much value as they could in exchange for Tucker.

Fans won’t love seeing such a talented player leave the club, but many analysts believe the Astros did a solid job with the return package.

Veteran third baseman Isaac Paredes, who will benefit from the Crawford Boxes in left field as a dead pull hitter, will be presumably taking over for Bregman. Pitcher Hayden Wesneski will help replace the production lost with Yusei Kikuchi departing in free agency and Justin Verlander being unlikely to return.

But, the crown jewel of the pacakge from the Cubs was prospect Cam Smith.

A first-round pick in the 2024 MLB draft out of Florida State, he acclimated himself rather well in his first taste of professional baseball.

Across 135 plate appearances, he registered a .313/.396/.609 slash line with seven home runs, five doubles and four triples while knocking in 24 runs.

Upon being acquired by Houston, he became the No. 1 prospect in their system, a title held by Matt Shaw in Chicago's prospect pipeline.

It is a ranking that Jim Callis of MLB.com expects Smith to hold onto throughout 2025.

In a recent piece, he made predictions about who will be each franchise’s top prospect at the end of the year, and Smith is the Astros player he picked.

“Recently acquired from the Cubs in the Kyle Tucker trade, Smith is one of 10 first-rounders from 2024 forecast to rank as their team's best prospect next December.”

A supremely talented player, the third baseman is currently the No. 73 overall-ranked prospect in baseball.

With an MLB ETA of 2026, he could make his debut at some point in 2025 if he carries over his production from 2024.