When the Nationals selected Wake Forest infielder Seaver King with the No. 10 pick in last year's draft, he wasn't considered to be one of the best available players. One of the players most experts viewed more favorably was Florida State third baseman Cam Smith.
Whereas King spent the remainder of last year in Low-A Fredericksburg, Smith (who the Chicago Cubs selected at No. 14) played at three levels of the minor leagues, finishing the season in Double-A. After being traded to the Houston Astros as part of the package that netted the Cubs star right fielder Kyle Tucker, and following a great spring training, Smith has earned the right to replace Tucker as Houston's starting right fielder to begin this season.
Is it already time to acknowledge that the Nationals made a mistake by selecting King instead of Smith?
When the Nationals drafted King, it seemed clear that they were choosing to save money with their first pick, in order save money for later selections. The team would confirm after the draft that this was indeed their intent, and it allowed them to spend extra money on No. 44 overall selection Luke Dickerson.
There's just one flaw with that logic: Smith costed less ($5.07 million signing bonus) than King ($5.15 million). That's obviously a negligible difference, but it proves that Washington could have used the same process while arguably drafting a better player.
Then again, it might be too soon to declare Smith to be a better player than King. It's still been less than a year since the draft, and no two players follow exactly the same developmental track. Smith has been a more productive hitter (particularly in the power department), but that also ignores the value King holds as a shortstop and base runner -- he stole 10 bases in 20 games in Low-A Fredericksburg.
#Nats No. 5 prospect Seaver King. Drafted 10th overall last summer out of Wake Forest.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) March 16, 2025
Told me he added 25 pounds since the draft. You can see it in legs and lower half. Still moves well at short. Made real nice play charging ball today. pic.twitter.com/bGVLGJjB9E
Additionally, most teams wouldn't promote a player like Smith to the majors so quickly. The Nationals are pretty clearly like most other teams, in that regard. Aside from generational talents like Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper, Washington has been notoriously patient with their top draft picks. Perhaps that's due in part to the fact that they've drafted few players since the aforementioned dynamic duo who have become productive major leaguers. But the point still stands.
The Astros are in a somewhat unique position. They view themselves as a franchise that belongs in the playoffs -- and rightfully so, considering the consistent success they've had for nearly the last decade. Yet they don't have the top end talent that they once did, and after moving on from Tucker, their outfield is notably weak.
The Astros are desperate to pinpoint players with upside, in hopes that they can replace the stars their lineup used to be littered with. There isn't another team in the league that fits these criteria to the extent that the Astros do.
To be clear, Smith's career is off to a better start than King's. But even so, that may not continue in the future. And frankly, nitpicking whether a team made the perfect draft pick or not is often a flawed exercise and waste of time. As long as Seaver King becomes a solid major leaguer and ideally a core contributor in the starting lineup for years to come, the rest doesn't really matter.
Let's all calm down. It would be awesome if King was on the cusp of reaching the big leagues, but it's way too soon to slam the gavel. After all, most fans have only seen King play in Spring Breakout, so give the kid a chance before jumping to conclusions.