The Mets and veteran outfielder Tommy Pham are in agreement on a minor league contract, reports ESPN’s Jorge Castillo. It’ll be the Vayner Sports client’s second stint with the organization. He’d earn a prorated $2.25MM upon being selected to the majors and has an April 25 opt-out date in the deal, per USA Today’s Bob Nightengale. He can tack on another $850K worth of incentives, Castillo adds.
Pham, 38, spent the 2025 season with the Pirates and turned in a slightly below-average .245/.330/.370 batting line (95 wRC+), though last year’s production was skewed by an awful start to his season. The well-traveled outfielder caught fire in mid-June and slashed .278/.363/.468 with 10 homers, 13 doubles, a triple, an 11.7% walk rate and a 17.2% strikeout rate over his final 273 turns at the plate.
Pham’s first stint with the Mets came back in 2023, when he signed a one-year deal in free agency and enjoyed a productive stretch before being traded to the Diamondbacks. He logged 264 plate appearances with the Amazins, hit .268/.348/.472, and was flipped to Arizona in a deadline deal netting teenage infield prospect Jeremy Rodriguez.
Now back with the Mets, he’ll ramp up in Triple-A in hopes of hitting his way onto the big league roster. The Mets broke camp with top prospect Carson Benge as their starting right fielder, and the hope is that he’ll hit the ground running, but one of New York’s top fallback plans, Mike Tauchman, is out for the foreseeable future after suffering a meniscus tear that will require surgery at the very end of spring training.
Pham gives the Mets another veteran option to consider in the event that Benge, who’ll make his big league debut with only 116 professional games under his belt, is overmatched against big league pitching early in the year. He also provides a potential righty-hitting complement to the left-handed Benge; Pham is a career .261/.368/.434 against lefties.
Back in November, Pham told The Athletic that he’s still hoping to play several more seasons. His past few years haven’t been especially productive, though he revealed in that November interview that he played through plantar fasciitis the past couple seasons. He’s since undergone a stem cell treatment that he feels can alleviate the issue and help him regain some value on the basepaths. Pham hit .256/.326/.448 with 16 homers and 22 steals (in 25 attempts) between the Mets and D-backs in 2023. He posted a .246/.317/.369 line and gone 12-for-18 in stolen base attempts in the two subsequent seasons.
Mets addressing fans concerns that there might be too much good chemistry on the team
The Syracuse team? Who knows.
He wants to play for a contender!
The Mets signed in enforcer
Looking forward to the first bench clearing brawl with Tommy in the mix!
Which one of his teammates will he be brawling with?
LOL darn it, that was good 😂
Who could he possibly be an upgrade over? And that doesn’t even take into account his charming personality, including bashing the Mets after he left them the last time. This makes no sense to me whatsoever.
Its a minor league signing. He could be an upgrade over Pache, Bae, and Jose Ramos. Considering that Benge is still unproven, Robert is injury prone, and Taylor did not hit last year, the Mets might just wind up needing that much depth. It makes sense if you stop limiting your perceptions of a team to just the 26- or 40-man roster.
He’s not signing to play in Syracuse, he’s hoping and expecting to be in Queens. In the meantime, he’ll make a fabulous role model for their young prospects. Even if he is better than the AAA players that you mentioned, there’s no universe in which I want him as part of my organization.
@SteveAdamsEsq: “He’s not signing to play in Syracuse”
He literally is. It’s a minor league deal. He’ll play in Syracuse until he’s needed or released or traded. Same as when they’ve had guys like Jackie Bradley Jr, Trayce Thompson, John Singleton, etc. in Syracuse the last few years. It’s depth you hope you don’t need, but might.
What a joke
And he gets to be a lawyer? What a sick joke.
Fine depth
Joc Peterson will hit the IL during the Mets series
I was expecting Pham to sign with them over the winter. Seemed like a decent Plan C. But he was likely looking for a MLB deal and waiting for a team to thin out in the OF.
Nobody left a sign to a minor league deal? He was the last one still out there I guess.
I thought that he hated the Mets when he was here, lol
I think he just hates everybody in general
“Strip Club” Tommy comes to Queens.
The Mets are Pham-i-ly!