The Cards of Cam Smith, Houston Astros Phenom
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With the Houston Astros announcement that top prospect Cam Smith will start the season at the Major League level, baseball fans will get an even better look at the phenom who has emerged as a contender for 2025 AL Rookie of the Year.
Smith, a key piece of the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to the Cubs, may just be a cornerstone of Houston's future. The card market's reaction to the news is a great example of what happens when a prospect with top-end potential builds buzz with a great spring, and then makes the big club.
Drafted 14th overall in 2024 by the Cubs, Smith's has ascended to the Major Leagues in a blink of an eye. Per Jim Callis at MLB.com: "Smith has just 32 games of pro experience, making his rise to an Opening Day roster the third-quickest among position players since the Draft era began in 1965." The 22-year old had a brilliant spring, hitting .342, to go along 4 homers, 11 RBI, with an OBP of .419 and a 1.129 OPS. Smith is currently ranked #58 on MLB Pipeline's Top 100 Prospects..
Smith's card market has been extremely active of late, as he continued to impress talent evaluators and collectors. Per Card Ladder, at writing, there have been 58 Cam Smith sales of $500 or more in March alone. To give a sense of Smith's rising star, there were 10 such sales this January, 28 in February. Yesterday's biggest sale was for Smith's 2024 Bowman Draft Sapphire Edition Auto /25, for $1,600.
At writing, the top Cam Smith sale of all-time, per Card Ladder, came recently on March 21, when his 2024 Bowman Draft 1st Bowman Auto Black /10 went for $7,000.
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Cam Smith's 2024 Bowman Chrome Draft Red Lava Auto /5 PSA 10 1st Bowman went for $6,500 on February 22. Small sample size aside, the comp shows that Smith's spring has only increased his value. Ebay curently has two listings of this card, for $12,999 (PSA 10) and $9,999.99 (PSA 9), respectively. A /75 Yellow Refractor version sold for $599 yesterday. A PSA 8 2024 Bowman Chrome Sapphire edition, signed and numbered to /25 sold yesterday as well, for $1,182.21. A /150 Blue Wave Refractor Auto fetched $600
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Let's look at Smith's 2024 Bowman Chrome Draft Portrait Auto /10. The first sale of the card, per Card Ladder came on for $935. On December 12, the card sold for $1,700. On March 3, the most recent sale of the PSA 1/10 card was for $2,550.
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Per Card Ladder, Smith's 2024 Bowman's Best Superfractor Auto 1/1 sold for $1,000 on February 25, and $3,000 on March 16.
Yesterday, per Card Ladder, there were over 150 sales of Cam Smith Bowman cards, ranging from $0.99 - $1,600.
The call up. #BuiltForThis pic.twitter.com/5d1HxEFk0l
— Houston Astros (@astros) March 25, 2025
It was a big day for Cam Smith collectors, but of course, a bigger day for the young star himself. The Astros told him he'd been called up by having his parents give him the news. It was an emotional moment for a player who wasted little time making it to the Big Leagues.
Michael Terry is a writer based in Brooklyn. He specializes in sports, culture, and collecting. His work has appeared at Topps RIPPED, ESPN, Grantland, Vice Sports, and more.
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