Astros trade dominos will start to wobble after talk of a Cam Smith position change

For most of his life, Cam Smith had been a third baseman. The hot corner is known for requiring incredible quick-twitch reflexes above all else. By all accounts, the youngster had the goods to make it work there. However, in the deal that sent him to the Houston Astros in exchange for Kyle Tucker, the club acquired another promising yet more experienced third baseman in Isaac Paredes.

That led the club to experiment with Smith in the outfield during spring training. He got penciled in as the right fielder, and his prolific bat, slashing .342/.419/.711, is what helped him make the third-fastest jump from the MLB Draft to a spot on Houston's opening day roster.

Fans quickly learned that Smith is an athletic freak. The youngster may have had his ups and downs with the bat, but in the field, at a brand new position, he quickly became a defensive star, culminating with him being named a Gold Glove Finalist.

Now, the Astros are ready to tinker again, planning to give Smith some reps in center field during spring training. The 23-year-old is gifted enough to handle it, and if he proves he truly has the chops, it could re-ignite trade rumors that once ran hot for the incumbent, Jake Meyers.

Astros' plan to give Cam Smith center field reps in spring training could telegraph their intentions to trade Jake Meyers

Smith would have some big shoes to fill as Meyers is one of the best defensive center fielders in the game. While he has no hardware to recognize his prowess, the 29-year-old can really get after it in center, posting nine outs above average over just 844 innings in 2025, after recording 13 OAA in 1,144 innings in 2024.

Meyers was a breakout star for Houston last year. While not quite as notable as Hunter Brown or Jeremy Peña, Meyers hit new highs with the bat, highlighted by his career bests in batting average (.292) and on-base percentage (.354). That all came while he minimized his strikeouts, which hit a concerning high-water mark of 33.8% in 2022, seeing them fall to a more-than-respectable 17.6% clip last year.

Meyers had been the subject of many trade rumors earlier this winter, with the common thought being that he'd be dangled in order for the Astros to find rotation help. Houston might not have all the answers in their rotation, but the options are now plentiful, and as a result, the rumors surrounding Myeres have cooled.

There's something else to consider with the breakout center fielder. While his results were very good, the underlying data doesn't reveal a changed man, but rather, one who benefitted form a lot of good luck.

That's led to a nagging belief that the Astros should still trade Meyers before it's too late. The defensive whiz could quickly see his prowess at the plate hurdle back down to Earth, making trading him something that should be a prime focus.

Meyers won't clear as much in terms of payroll as trades involving Isaac Paredes or Christian Walker would, but his standing in the game after his breakout 2025 performance is enough to generate a lot of interest. The market, both free-agent and trade, provides a real dearth of quality center field options, and Meyers is the best of the bunch who could be available.

Smith has all the tools to be a plus defender in center, and if he can prove it in spring training, it could and should force Meyers back on the block, where the Astros could capitalize on his career year and two remaining years of team control to get a huge haul. That'd be smart business, but it's all up to Smith to prove us wrong about the concerns that exist with him. If he does, Meyers could be as good as gone.