The Diamondbacks acquired outfielder Tommy Pham and cash considerations from the Mets. New York received minor league infielder Jeremy Rodriguez in return. The Mets are reportedly paying down half the money that remains on Pham’s deal.
Pham got off to a relatively slow start after signing with the Mets over the offseason. He hit only .196/.283/.348 through the end of April, leading to some speculation the Mets could cut into his playing time. The veteran put that behind him and has been one of the league’s better hitters since the start of May.
Over the past three months, the 35-year-old is hitting .286/.365/.503. He’s up to a .268/.348/.472 line in 264 plate appearances overall. Pham has connected on 10 home runs, walked at a strong 11% clip and kept his strikeouts to a decent 21.2% rate. It’s easily his best offensive showing in four years, more or less a return to his peak form.
A right-handed hitter, Pham has done the bulk of his damage against left-handed pitching through the course of his career. He has had more balanced results in 2023, posting a .255/.339/.532 line versus southpaws and a .277/.355/.431 showing against right-handed pitching. That kind of production fits well in the middle of a batting order.
Pham’s bat is his calling card. He has started five games in center field this year but is primarily a left fielder. Public metrics have pegged him as a slightly below-average defender for the past few seasons. It’s been a similar story through 395 2/3 innings this year.
The Mets have dramatically reshaped the roster within the past week. They’ve been expected to listen to offers on rentals, but the magnitude of their sell-off has outstretched expectations. The deals of Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander represent a massive change in direction for the organization. Moving shorter-term role players like Pham is relatively small in comparison.
Pham received a $1MM signing bonus and is playing this season on a $5MM salary. He’s due roughly $1.64MM from now through the end of the season, with each club picking up around $800K. He’ll tack on a good chunk more in incentives. Pham has already triggered $400K in bonuses and will earn another $200K for every 25 plate appearances between 275 and 450.
Arizona has a number of young outfielders at the major league level. Corbin Carroll, Alek Thomas and Jake McCarthy all hit from the left side. Thomas hasn’t produced much offensively in his career, while McCarthy has slumped to a .251/.326/.346 line through 75 games after a promising 2022 campaign. Arizona brought in Kyle Lewis and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. in offseason trades to balance the outfield. Lewis has spent most of his time in Triple-A; Gurriel got off to a torrid start in the desert but has just a .180/.225/.337 line since the beginning of June.
The Pham acquisition presumably pushes Gurriel into more of a bench/designated hitter role. The D-Backs have rotated a number of players through the DH spot to keep them fresh throughout the season.
Rodriguez is a 17-year-old infielder from the Dominican Republic. The Snakes signed him for $1.25MM just a few months ago. Ben Badler of Baseball America praised his left-handed swing and infield actions in reviewing Arizona’s international signing class. Rodriguez is nowhere close to the majors but resents another upside lottery play for New York, a similar mold to the two players they acquired from the Marlins for David Robertson last week.
Andy Martino of SNY first reported the Diamondbacks were acquiring Pham. Joel Sherman of the New York Post reported the Mets would get Rodriguez in return. Tim Britton of the Athletic reported the cash considerations.
Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.
Happy it wasn’t the Phillies
Not a phan of this move
The Diamondbacks already have enough outfielders.
I feel like there is about to be a flurry of moves announced when time expires. Article after article gonna be pumped out. Y’all have been doing great today, keep it coming!
Is there anybody left Braves? I feel like my name could be on here in a few minutes. Sheesh
Either we get a starter, maybe another reliever, or we stand pat. I’d like to see some guys coming in to fill the few holes the braves do have, but if not it’s all good we have the best record in the league for a reason. Plus we are getting fried back and our bullpen is getting healthier. And hand should do better moving away from Coors. I’d have preferred Brent suter, but hand isn’t a bad pickup either.
They said once on MLB Network they need 20 mins for everything to come in. The Darvish deal came in late, and I think so did the Ryan Dempster one.
We are “Phamily”, send him to Arizona to be around the rest of the snakes, he’ll fit in
They getting a pitcher or rolling with Davies or who?
that’s an ok move. I like pham. buT we need PITCHING!
Difference making bat.
What was the point of this?
For who? The DBacks get a solid bat with a good OF arm. The Mets get a longshot SS for a guy they don’t need. That’s the point.
They must need a Fantasy Football player.
Don’t make Tommy slap a fool!
Wow, a SS prospect who just turned 17. Talk about a lottery ticket. Good luck to Tommy and the DBacks.
I was at least hoping for a lottery ticket SP prospect
That prospect has a good eye at the plate.
I heard two.
Ohhh maaan areyou kidding me!!! Phammmmy for some slapdick prospect
When he’s healthy, he ain’t all that bad…
D-backs trying to lead the NL in steals
Meh…Mets add another ss to the stockpile. At least the funkin Mets didn’t send cash with Pham. But wait…
How many new teammates will he punch?
I’ll take a stab at this and say at least one!
“Stab at it” hehe!
Another shortstop?
17 year old player likely too inexperienced to be ranked. Interesting. AZ gets a good bat indeed!
Not another SS prospect, jeezzzzz, we needed pitching prospects DAMN IT lol
The season sucks for the Mets but at least they did improve their farm System a lot and also they got bad enough that they now likely finish bottom 10 in the league.
That is very important because that means they can get a QO player and only lose a second rounder instead of a first rounder.
The worst thing that could happen now would be finishing 11th worst and lose that pick next year.
The big challenge will be to develop some pitchers. They have a lot of young hitters and hitting prospects but lack guys that project as starters. They can trade for or sign some guys but you need like 8 starters to get through a season (injuries, inning limits…) and it helps if at least 3-4 of them are home grown and cost controlled so you don’t have to spend a ton of dollars and prospects to replace injured guys.
Awful lot of SS taken in these swaps…..wonder how much they’re going to pay for Lindor to be traded this off-season
Why do the Mets pay so heavily in trades? It seems like other teams get an actual return. This one is closer to even, but they are paying Verlander and Scherzer so much they might as well have kept them. And it’s not just current ownership. Bobby Bonilla.
They paid that much to acquire premium prospects.
Pham is the #6 OF on the Dbacks depth chart. If he hits 6-7 HR over the remaining 50+ games as a PH/DH and occasional late inning replacement OF, the Dbacks get what they want from Pham. He definitely doesn’t move the needle for the Dbacks.
“Pham is the #6 OF on the Dbacks depth chart.”
His 126 OPS+ is better than literally all of their outfielders. He will be a starter for them.
I’d resent being traded to the Mets too. I feel your pain Jeremy.
Fantasy football is about to get real in ARZ – Pham and Joc get to face off more often now.
Nice million dollar loto ticket for Pham. Fair value.
Looks like a solid return—Rodriguez probably won’t make the majors but he has real upside. Better this than a 31 year old organizational soldier in AA.
Is Tommy Pham the genuinely meanest player in the MLB?
All I gotta say is most GM’s would address the comments with out trashing the player making the comments.
Some people just don’t know right from wrong.
Tommy Pham got them to the World Series. I just hope he lands with the Dodgers.