CHICAGO -- The Cubs wanted to add Cam Smith to their highly touted farm system not only due to his eye-opening uptick in performance at Florida State this past season, but for the potential the ball club sees for the young third baseman to continue his trajectory of improvement.

That process will officially start soon now that the Cubs and their first-round Draft pick have reached an agreement on a signing bonus. According to MLB Pipeline¡¯s Jim Callis, the North Siders have inked Smith with a $5,070,700 bonus, which is the full slot value for the 14th overall selection.

? Cubs take FSU slugger Cam Smith with No. 14 pick

Smith was eager to join the organization on Draft night.

¡°The history speaks for itself,¡± Smith said of the Cubs. ¡°I've got a ton of respect for the organization and everybody involved in that team. I'm just excited, man. This is an awesome opportunity. And I really don't think there's a better pick.¡±

This past season with Florida State, the 21-year-old Smith hit at a .387 clip with 16 home runs, 22 doubles, 57 RBIs, 82 runs scored and 104 hits in 66 games. He posted a .488 on-base percentage and continued to show a dramatic improvement in plate discipline that began with Hyannis in the Cape Cod League.

After logging a 28.7% strikeout rate with FSU in 2023, Smith cut that down to 12.8% in the Cape and then carried over that progress with a 14.9% rate in his sophomore season with the Seminoles. The third baseman also saw his walk rate climb to 13.7% in ¡®24 from 9.1% in ¡®23 with Florida State. At the same time, his slugging percentage soared to .654 in ¡®24 (up from .575 in the CCL and .517 during his freshman year).

? Get to know No. 14 Draft pick Cam Smith

¡°He definitely made a lot of progress from his freshman year to sophomore year,¡± said Dan Kantrovitz, the Cubs' vice president of scouting. ¡°We view him as somebody that¡¯s really still on the upswing, somebody with a pretty steep trend line of improvement.¡±

Smith explained that he really embraced meditation during summer ball and continued to use that method to help slow things down mentally in his sophomore season. He also made some adjustments to his hand positioning and approach, looking to drive the ball to the opposite field more often.

Combined with the Cubs¡¯ history of scouting Smith dating back to his high school days, it all added up to Chicago selecting him in the first round.

¡°Cam was somebody that we prioritized from the beginning,¡± Kantrovitz said. ¡°His combination of performance and tools and still some upside with some unlocks that we¡¯ve identified, I think make it a pretty exciting combination of characteristics. He¡¯s somebody that I think checked a lot of different boxes for us.

¡°He¡¯s somebody that we think can play third base and can stay there, and potentially be really good at it. Hits for power. Hits for average. We didn¡¯t really see any holes in his game.¡±