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Washington Post
12 hours ago
- Sport
- Washington Post
Cam Smith's meteoric rise to the majors: A story of dedication and discipline
HOUSTON — When Cam Smith made his MLB debut on opening day for the Houston Astros, it was the third-fastest that someone had gone from the draft to the majors. Selected 14th overall by the Cubs in last year's draft, Smith played just 32 minor league games, including five at Double-A, before moving to the big leagues. Behind the rookie's meteoric ascent was years of work, preparation and planning coupled with a team working behind the scenes to help him reach the majors in near record time. His mother muses about him being 'too serious.' His hitting coach Aaron Capista says that he's 'built different.' Jason Romano, his longtime adviser and current agent at Excel Sports Management, says that he's unlike anyone he's ever known. Teammate Mauricio Dubon proclaims: 'He's gonna be a big star in the big leagues.' Smith routinely arrives at the ballpark more than six hours before night games, has never had a sip of alcohol and says he hasn't even tried anything with caffeine. 'Everybody's really good at this level,' he explained. 'So, I've got to do something different to get an edge.' He knows it's a rarity for someone his age to not drink alcohol or caffeine, but it was part of his longtime plan to live a life free from distractions. 'I don't want to have to rely on anything,' he said. 'I want to keep life as simple as I can.' His mother, Stephanie Hocza, encouraged him to let loose in high school and maybe go to a party or two. 'I would tell him he was too serious and he needed to just have a little fun and not just be about baseball,' she said. 'But he really did not take my advice.' Smith, who was part of the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to Chicago, has heated up after a slow start and hit .307 in May to bring his season average entering Tuesday to .255 with three homers, eight doubles and 17 RBIs in 46 games. A performance made more impressive considering the 22-year-old was still playing for Florida State at this time last year. Many in the Astros organization rave about Smith's maturity. That could be traced back to a childhood where he had to grow up fast being raised by a single mother who often worked long hours to keep the family afloat. In middle school, Smith would come home from school and do homework before walking to a grocery store where he'd often buy a sub sandwich for dinner while Hocza worked until 10 p.m. most nights as a cook at a Lake Worth, Florida, bingo hall. 'He had to mature because he had to be responsible for his things,' Hocza said. 'I couldn't be there every night like most parents.' Though it was difficult at the time, Hocza now sees those early days with her son as a blessing. 'The best thing to do for your kids is make them figure it out,' she said. 'It was kind of forced upon him, but he definitely made the most of it and it turned him into who he is.' Smith's grandmother, Pattie Thomas, a lifelong Cubs fan, signed him up for T-ball when he was just 5 years old. The pair often attended spring training and minor league games in Jupiter, Florida. The young Smith was way more into the arcade on the concourse than watching the games. 'It's always funny to talk about how I wasn't too interested and now I do it for a living,' he said. By high school, he'd grown to love the game but still wasn't sure he could make it a career until scouts started coming to his games. 'Then I realized that I can play this for a long time,' he said. His first offer was from Florida Atlantic, and when the longtime Florida State fan got his second offer from the Seminoles, he immediately committed to them. After his freshman season at Florida State, his advisers recognized that he needed help to stop chasing pitches, correct some swing-and-miss issues and adjust his high groundball rate before playing in the Cape Cod League. They knew it was his chance to make an impression with scouts and raise his draft status. To chart his progress, Smith, Capista and Romano met on weekly FaceTime calls where they'd review his at-bats and emphasize the importance of trusting his judgment at the plate. Smith stopped chasing sliders and swinging at weak-contact pitches, and it led to an increase in walks and decrease in strikeouts. He became the top hitter in the league, batting .347 with 14 doubles, four triples, six home runs and 26 RBIs. That propelled him to a great sophomore season where he earned second-team All-America honors and led the Seminoles to the College World Series to help his draft stock rise. After being drafted by the Cubs, Smith played 27 games of A ball. It was there that he really heated up, hitting a home run in six consecutive games for Myrtle Beach. That was another boost to his confidence. 'Yeah, 100% because I didn't know I could ever do that,' he said. Capista wasn't surprised at the success Smith was having because of the kind of person he is. 'When you get the response and the feedback of someone like Cam, you quickly learn that he's built different, he's wired different,' Capista said. 'It's so cliche to say you want to be great ... but when you hear it and you get to know someone like Cam, you quickly learn that he means it, and he does the work, he does the stuff in the background that no one sees.' Before spring training Smith visited the Maven Baseball Lab, where they helped him refine his swing path so he could take another step forward. 'I could see a video that my bat was getting pretty flat early before I would go to swing and I'm just glad I had somebody like them to explain it to me,' he said. 'Break it down like: 'Hey, you're dumping the water out of the cup too early. Let's keep that upright a little longer.'' After the trade to Houston, Smith quickly impressed. He hit .342 with four homers and 11 RBIs this spring while navigating the move from third base to right field to make the opening day roster. 'He was not overwhelmed by the spots we put him in,' manager Joe Espada said. 'He's mentally tough. He can deal with the obstacles and ups and downs of a season.' Now that Smith's made it to the majors, he's hoping to inspire others like him to do it. Smith, whose mother is white and father is Black, hopes to get more Black kids involved in the game. 'I didn't really have somebody to look up to or who was able to talk to me about being African American and playing baseball,' he said. 'So, I wanted to be that influence on other young players to inspire them to know that it's possible and to know that they can do it.' He doesn't have a relationship with his father, but he has connected with his paternal grandmother, an aunt and other relatives on that side of the family in recent years. His mother said not knowing a lot about them as a child spurred him to learn more about his culture and who he was. 'It's more of just wanting a piece of that and wanting to just cherish that side of him,' she said. 'Even though he didn't have that in his life, that's still part of who he is.' ___ AP MLB:
Associated Press
17 hours ago
- Sport
- Associated Press
Cam Smith's meteoric rise to the majors: A story of dedication and discipline
HOUSTON (AP) — When Cam Smith made his MLB debut on opening day for the Houston Astros, it was the third-fastest that someone had gone from the draft to the majors. Selected 14th overall by the Cubs in last year's draft, Smith played just 32 minor league games, including five at Double-A, before moving to the big leagues. Behind the rookie's meteoric ascent was years of work, preparation and planning coupled with a team working behind the scenes to help him reach the majors in near record time. His mother muses about him being 'too serious.' His hitting coach Aaron Capista says that he's 'built different.' Jason Romano, his longtime adviser and current agent at Excel Sports Management, says that he's unlike anyone he's ever known. Teammate Mauricio Dubon proclaims: 'He's gonna be a big star in the big leagues.' Smith routinely arrives at the ballpark more than six hours before night games, has never had a sip of alcohol and says he hasn't even tried anything with caffeine. 'Everybody's really good at this level,' he explained. 'So, I've got to do something different to get an edge.' He knows it's a rarity for someone his age to not drink alcohol or caffeine, but it was part of his longtime plan to live a life free from distractions. 'I don't want to have to rely on anything,' he said. 'I want to keep life as simple as I can.' His mother, Stephanie Hocza, encouraged him to let loose in high school and maybe go to a party or two. 'I would tell him he was too serious and he needed to just have a little fun and not just be about baseball,' she said. 'But he really did not take my advice.' Smith, who was part of the trade that sent Kyle Tucker to Chicago, has heated up after a slow start and hit .307 in May to bring his season average entering Tuesday to .255 with three homers, eight doubles and 17 RBIs in 46 games. A performance made more impressive considering the 22-year-old was still playing for Florida State at this time last year. Many in the Astros organization rave about Smith's maturity. That could be traced back to a childhood where he had to grow up fast being raised by a single mother who often worked long hours to keep the family afloat. In middle school, Smith would come home from school and do homework before walking to a grocery store where he'd often buy a sub sandwich for dinner while Hocza worked until 10 p.m. most nights as a cook at a Lake Worth, Florida, bingo hall. 'He had to mature because he had to be responsible for his things,' Hocza said. 'I couldn't be there every night like most parents.' Though it was difficult at the time, Hocza now sees those early days with her son as a blessing. 'The best thing to do for your kids is make them figure it out,' she said. 'It was kind of forced upon him, but he definitely made the most of it and it turned him into who he is.' Baseball wasn't a first love for Smith, but it stuck eventually Smith's grandmother, Pattie Thomas, a lifelong Cubs fan, signed him up for T-ball when he was just 5 years old. The pair often attended spring training and minor league games in Jupiter, Florida. The young Smith was way more into the arcade on the concourse than watching the games. 'It's always funny to talk about how I wasn't too interested and now I do it for a living,' he said. By high school, he'd grown to love the game but still wasn't sure he could make it a career until scouts started coming to his games. 'Then I realized that I can play this for a long time,' he said. His first offer was from Florida Atlantic, and when the longtime Florida State fan got his second offer from the Seminoles, he immediately committed to them. After his freshman season at Florida State, his advisers recognized that he needed help to stop chasing pitches, correct some swing-and-miss issues and adjust his high groundball rate before playing in the Cape Cod League. They knew it was his chance to make an impression with scouts and raise his draft status. To chart his progress, Smith, Capista and Romano met on weekly FaceTime calls where they'd review his at-bats and emphasize the importance of trusting his judgment at the plate. Smith stopped chasing sliders and swinging at weak-contact pitches, and it led to an increase in walks and decrease in strikeouts. He became the top hitter in the league, batting .347 with 14 doubles, four triples, six home runs and 26 RBIs. That propelled him to a great sophomore season where he earned second-team All-America honors and led the Seminoles to the College World Series to help his draft stock rise. A rapid rise through pro ball After being drafted by the Cubs, Smith played 27 games of A ball. It was there that he really heated up, hitting a home run in six consecutive games for Myrtle Beach. That was another boost to his confidence. 'Yeah, 100% because I didn't know I could ever do that,' he said. Capista wasn't surprised at the success Smith was having because of the kind of person he is. 'When you get the response and the feedback of someone like Cam, you quickly learn that he's built different, he's wired different,' Capista said. 'It's so cliche to say you want to be great ... but when you hear it and you get to know someone like Cam, you quickly learn that he means it, and he does the work, he does the stuff in the background that no one sees.' Before spring training Smith visited the Maven Baseball Lab, where they helped him refine his swing path so he could take another step forward. 'I could see a video that my bat was getting pretty flat early before I would go to swing and I'm just glad I had somebody like them to explain it to me,' he said. 'Break it down like: 'Hey, you're dumping the water out of the cup too early. Let's keep that upright a little longer.'' After the trade to Houston, Smith quickly impressed. He hit .342 with four homers and 11 RBIs this spring while navigating the move from third base to right field to make the opening day roster. 'He was not overwhelmed by the spots we put him in,' manager Joe Espada said. 'He's mentally tough. He can deal with the obstacles and ups and downs of a season.' Now that Smith's made it to the majors, he's hoping to inspire others like him to do it. Smith, whose mother is white and father is Black, hopes to get more Black kids involved in the game. 'I didn't really have somebody to look up to or who was able to talk to me about being African American and playing baseball,' he said. 'So, I wanted to be that influence on other young players to inspire them to know that it's possible and to know that they can do it.' He doesn't have a relationship with his father, but he has connected with his paternal grandmother, an aunt and other relatives on that side of the family in recent years. His mother said not knowing a lot about them as a child spurred him to learn more about his culture and who he was. 'It's more of just wanting a piece of that and wanting to just cherish that side of him,' she said. 'Even though he didn't have that in his life, that's still part of who he is.' ___ AP MLB:
USA Today
3 days ago
- Business
- USA Today
Who's next on Max Homa's bag? The caddie carousel has been busy of late
Who's next on Max Homa's bag? The caddie carousel has been busy of late Trying to keep up with the caddie carousel on the PGA Tour always has been a fool's errand but it has been particularly tricky of late. As is usually the case, all it takes is one domino to fall, and the caddie yard is in a state of flux. It was late March when caddie Joe Greiner split with his childhood buddy Max Homa after six Tour victories together for the good of their friendship. Homa quickly hooked up with veteran caddie Bill Harke, who was working as a swing instructor in the Bay Area and assistant coach to his partner — former LPGA pro Beth Allen — at Division II Academy of Art University in San Francisco. This all came at the recommendation of Jim 'Bones' Mackay. Greiner ended up spelling injured caddie Matt 'Rev' Minister for Justin Thomas at the Masters and when they won together at the RBC Heritage, JT's first victory in three years, rumors circulated that Greiner might go full-time with JT but he put the kibosh on those rumors quickly and Minister, who had replaced Bones a year earlier, returned at the PGA Championship. But it didn't take Greiner long to find a new full-time bag, hooking up with Collin Morikawa, the two-time major winner who has been battling his own winless drought. J.J. Jakovac had been Morikawa's only bagman since turning pro in 2019. JJ turned up as a fill-in on Matt Wallace's bag for one week at the Charles Schwab Challenge before landing a full-time gig with promising rookie Michael Thorbjornsen. (He failed at U.S. Open Final Qualifying and withdrew from the RBC Canadian Open this week, citing a wrist injury.) Jakovac slid into the job formerly held by Lance Bennett, who had been caddying for Tiger Woods before his latest injury sidelined him. Thorbjornsen shares the same management company, Excel Sports Management, as Woods and Homa. After Homa parted ways with Harke on Sunday following the Memorial, he carried his own bag during Monday's 36-hole U.S. Open qualifier and lost in a playoff. Who did Homa ring to handle caddie duties this week at the RBC Canadian Open? None other than Bennett. It's unclear what Homa's plans are beyond this week but stay tuned. The caddie carousel doesn't appear to be slowing down any time soon.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Business
- New York Times
Huge paydays. Millions more in fines. 2 baseball agencies went to war, exposing a cutthroat industry
Four years ago, WME Sports, an arm of the entertainment behemoth Endeavor, wanted to supercharge its nascent baseball agent business. Its plan was one of brute force: throw an eye-popping $25 million at a pair of coveted baseball reps, in hopes of enticing them to break their multiyear contracts and leave their boss, Casey Close, the longtime agent representing Derek Jeter. Advertisement So began a legal fight that concluded with a 70-page arbitrator's ruling, one that provides an unvarnished view of a corner of the baseball world rarely illuminated to the public. The document brings into focus a sharp-elbowed business conducted in a world shaped by shifting allegiances and the unrelenting pressure to profit. In a previously unreported decision, arbitrator Michael Gottesman ruled that agents Jim Murray and Michael Stival flagrantly breached their contracts when they defected to the upstart WME from Close's firm, Excel Sports Management. Thirteen Excel players, including Ian Happ, Adam Ottavino and Anthony Volpe, absconded to WME Sports with the duo, while several more players left for other agencies. It added up to 'an unprecedented departure of baseball clients,' the arbitrator said, and 'a serious reputational loss' for Excel. The February 2024 ruling argued that if the fallout from such blatant contractual breaches had gone unchecked, the effect would have been devastating. 'What WME did here, if it turns out to be profitable, would destabilize the entire baseball representation industry,' Gottesman wrote. 'It would incentivize WME, with its massive resources, to gobble up more agents who are bound by contracts.' The gravity of the matter was reflected in the punishment. For the first time ever in a baseball-agent dispute, the arbitrator awarded punitive damages, ordering WME to pay Excel $4 million. That was part of a total award of more than $10 million, including, in some cases, the return of 90 percent of commissions gained from player salaries. 'Excel respects the confidentiality of the Major League Baseball Players Association's arbitration process and will have no comment,' Close said. WME Sports is now looking to get out of the baseball business. Spokesperson Marie Sheehy said that is for a reason unrelated to the Excel case, but rival agents believe finances are a contributor. Either way, the ruling was designed to send a clear message to the rest of the agent world: There is a steep price to pay for breaking the established boundaries governing a notoriously cutthroat industry. 'This case is exceptionally egregious,' Gottesman wrote in his ruling, which was obtained by The Athletic. 'WME knew full well that Murray and Stival would be breaching their contracts.' Close, Murray and Stival all had once enjoyed a prosperous relationship. Close had played pro ball, reaching Triple A in the New York Yankees' and Seattle Mariners' organizations. His fame, however, would not come as a player, but as an agent. After success at other firms, he was hired to build Excel into a juggernaut, and flourished in no small part because of a knack for spotting talent. Advertisement One of his first hires at Excel was Murray, who by then was an established agent known for his ability to recruit talent and negotiate contracts. A few years later, Close poached Stival, a bright lawyer who had worked at the players' union since college. Stival had made his bones as an arbitration guru, prompting other agencies to pursue his services. Close was the only one who succeeded. The trio led Excel to years of growth, and Murray in particular became a powerhouse. Close kept his office in New York, where only two other Excel baseball agents shared the space — Murray and Stival. Close testified that the combination of Murray and Stival's skillsets was like 'one plus one equals four.' Murray and Stival were in Excel's long-term plans. At the end of 2020, the private equity firm Shamrock showed interest in investing in Excel. But first the prospective investors needed assurance the agency would be in good hands for years to come. It was within this context, according to testimony, that Close called Murray and Stival 'the two most important people in the baseball division.' He identified the pair as the baseball division's future leaders. The investment went through. Less than a year later, the former partners would be duking it out in court. The product of multiple mergers of powerful Hollywood talent groups, Endeavor includes much more than WME Sports. Dwayne 'the Rock' Johnson, Rachel Maddow, John Mulaney and Barack and Michelle Obama are among the talent touted on across various divisions. Both World Wrestling Entertainment and Ultimate Fighting Championship are under the Endeavor umbrella as well. For two years, WME searched for the right agents to lead its fledgling baseball division. Going into 2021, the firm carried just four baseball reps and only a few clients. One was star Carlos Correa. The shortstop was approaching free agency and the company wanted more firepower in hopes of retaining him. (It eventually lost him anyway.) Advertisement WME had initially limited its search to agents not bound by contracts to their firms, but that proved fruitless. That led to a shift in tactics: the company would now try to pry away agents under contract. Murray was at the top of the list. He took a meeting with WME in March 2021, but said he was uninterested. He recommended his colleague Stival in his place, but nothing moved forward. Within a couple weeks, WME reps circled back, and this time, according to testimony, they came with a green light from top executives to make Murray and Stival a financial offer 'that would make them interested.' At the time, Murray was already the highest-paid agent across all of Excel's divisions, Gottesman wrote. Since joining Excel in 2012, he had been instrumental in growing the baseball group from fewer than 25 clients to over 175. Excel rewarded him with a five-year deal through 2024 that paid him $1 million in base salary annually, plus bonuses. To lure Murray, Endeavor blew that away with a package totaling more than $16 million on a six-year deal through 2027. It started out with a signing bonus of $1 million and equity worth $800,000. His annual base salary then would grow over time: $1.5 million for the first year, followed by $2.25 million in year two, $2.5 million in the third and fourth years, and $2.65 million in the final two years. Murray was also eligible for bonuses. Stival too netted a significant pay raise over six years. WME gave him a financial package worth about $9.8 million. It paid him four times more in base pay for 2022 and 2023 than what his Excel deal called for. 'WME is unique,' Gottesman wrote, 'capable of expending vast amounts of money to get what it wants. No other baseball agency has that capacity.' The aggressive approach worked. On Aug. 30, 2021, Murray and Stival finalized their lucrative deals. WME had seemingly met every demand. That included 'total indemnity' clauses, as Gottesman put it. The agents had asked to be protected if Excel filed a lawsuit over their exit, and WME agreed. Such language was unprecedented for WME, which at first had some high-level executives deny the request. Endeavor president Mark Shapiro stepped in and overruled them. Advertisement The next day at 2:30 p.m., Murray and Stival jointly called Close. His top lieutenants had spent most of the calendar year orchestrating their exit from the firm they had worked together to build. Now they were on Zoom tendering their immediate resignation. Close was blindsided. Rival agents smelled blood in the water. After Murray and Stival walked out the door, client defections began in less than two weeks. The tumult did not escape the notice of opportunists elsewhere. The case record includes a text message sent to a player from an agent at another company. 'I just know there's a ton of drama and s— at excel and would hate for you to be a victim of that,' the rival agent texted. 'You deserve nothing but the best.' Excel claimed the damages amounted to tens of millions. The legal dispute began with a lawsuit in state court in New York in 2021, but wound up in front of an arbitrator as required by MLBPA's agent regulations. The process was a heavy lift: eleven days of hearings, hundreds of exhibits, and 19 lawyers. 'The magnitude of the proceedings and importance of the case explain the enormous time required,' Gottesman wrote. Accusations flew. Excel alleged that Murray and Stival made off with confidential company information, one of them via a thumb drive. The two agents denied it, and Gottesman wrote Excel had not proved the allegation. Meanwhile, Murray and Stival believed Excel had breached a non-disparagement clause by besmirching their names to players. In one example, an Excel agent suggested Murray's presence at Excel had produced 'a decade of disaster.' Gottesman didn't find Excel liable on that front, though. Regardless, the overall result was clear: a near-total victory for Close and Excel, and hefty penalties for Endeavor. 'I have focused on the question [of] whether this case is different from all that preceded it. And I have concluded that it is,' Gottesman wrote. 'Prior disputes have involved issues that affected only the parties and inflicted no harm on the industry as a whole.' Advertisement The $4 million in punitive damages was just the beginning. WME not only had to pay Excel money it made off former Excel clients, but Gottesman ruled it owed the company for other clients it took on for a lengthy period — from Sept. 1, 2021, through March 31 of this year. The only exception was if WME could prove the player joined for reasons other than Murray and Stival. Agencies generally charge players 5 percent of their salaries and draft bonuses as a standard commission. For non-Excel players who arrived at WME from September 2021 through the end of 2023, Excel was owed 2.5 percent of their signing bonus and salary. For players who arrived at the firm from the start of 2024 through March 2025, it dropped to 2 percent of bonus and salary pay. But for the players who did come over from Excel, the cost was much steeper. That group included Adam Ottavino, Ian Happ, Michael Siani, Jack Leiter, Anthony Volpe, David Dahl, Sammy Siani, Zach McAllister, Greg Bird, Dellin Betances, Andy Pettitte, Nick Maldonado and Chip Maldonado. At the time of the decision, WME had already negotiated $98 million in salaries for the active players in that group. Gottesman ruled that through the date of the ruling, February 2024, Excel was owed virtually all of the commission back for those players who had absconded directly to WME — 90 percent of it, which amounts to 4.5 percent of the overall salary. On any contracts negotiated afterward for that group through March of this year, 70 percent of the commission had to go to Excel, or 3.5 percent of the overall salary. Then, for younger players who have yet to reach arbitration, such as Volpe, Excel might be able to recoup money too even beyond March 2025. If Murray and Volpe are still with WME when he reaches arbitration, then WME has to pay 30 percent of its commission on those years (1.5 percent of overall salary). And if they're still together when he arrives at free agency, WME owes 20 percent on his first free-agent contract (1 percent overall). Advertisement A similar set of rules applies to off-field money WME owes Excel, which is where a retired player like Pettitte enters the picture. The typical agent's commission for endorsements is 20 percent. Gottesman set up another sliding scale for Excel to recoup some of that money, too. One player was designated by the arbitrator as a 'special case.' Pitcher Jack Leiter, the No. 2 pick in the 2021 draft, received a $7.9 million bonus in July 2021. A client of Murray's, Leiter hadn't formally signed a representation agreement with Excel when Murray left for WME. Excel is owed the full 5 percent commission of $399,600, plus interest. Rival agents believe the damages from the Excel case have contributed to a rough financial outlook for WME Sports, one they think has pushed the company to give up its foray into baseball. The Excel case cost WME $6 million in attorneys' fees, on top of the damages. Add in Murray and Stival's high salaries, and the firm's book of business likely hasn't grown enough to balance out the combined costs, other agents said. Sheehy, the WME Sports spokesperson, acknowledged that it is trying to shed its baseball business, but said it was because of a conflict of interest. Silver Lake, a private equity group, recently took Endeavor private. Inside Silver Lake is a different group that owns a collection of Minor League Baseball teams, Diamond Baseball Holdings. That poses a potential problem: the MLBPA forbids agents from also owning teams. 'WME's decision to divest its baseball business is unrelated to the confidential MLBPA arbitration ruling from 15 months ago,' Sheehy said. 'The agency is divesting its baseball business due to a conflict from Silver Lake's ownership of Diamond Baseball Holdings.' Some agents said they understand the start of June looms as an internal deadline for WME to figure out its plans. Advertisement 'The June 1 deadline is not accurate and we are working with the MLBPA to divest the baseball business in a timely manner,' Sheehy said. The MLBPA declined comment. When he issued his decision, Gottesman was concerned that his punishment could be insufficient, despite his intention of sending a message. He thought that by 2025, WME's baseball business might be 'robust.' 'I fear that my punitive damages award will fall short of extracting all profit from WME's tortious behavior,' Gottesman wrote. 'Murray and Stival are so talented that it is likely they will build an enormously profitable enterprise.' That fear might have been misplaced. (Top photo of Close: Kathy Willens / Associated Press)
