On Monday, the Philadelphia Phillies traded 13-year MLB veteran outfielder Tommy Pham to the Chicago White Sox for cash considerations. The White Sox selected his contract after the deal. The Minnesota Twins showed interest in Pham before the trade, according to the New York Post's Jon Heyman.
If the Twins had acquired Pham, they likely would've used him as a platoon bat with Trevor Larnach while Austin Martin is injured, as Pham, 38, is a right-handed hitter.
Pham has appeared in just nine MLB games this year. He signed a minor-league deal with the Mets in the offseason. New York selected his contract in mid-April, only to designate him for assignment two weeks later. After that, Pham spent time in the Orioles' minor-league system before signing a minor-league deal with the Phillies in late June. He never reached the majors with the Orioles or Phillies.
Pham made his MLB debut with the St. Louis Cardinals back in 2014. The Cardinals traded him to the Tampa Bay Rays at the 2018 trade deadline. After playing for the Rays through the 2019 season, Pham played for the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds, Boston Red Sox, Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks, White Sox, St. Louis Cardinals, Kansas City Royals and Pittsburgh Pirates. The outfielder has posted 18.3 bWAR and a .256/.344/.421 slash line with 149 home runs and 522 RBI over 1,250 career games in the majors.
Twins likely dodged a bullet by not acquiring Tommy Pham
Twins fans should be happy Minnesota didn't trade for Pham. There's a reason he has appeared in just nine big-league games this season.
Pham last had an above-average season at the plate in 2023 with the Mets and Diamondbacks. He posted 0.9 bWAR and a .700 OPS over 120 games with the Pirates last season.
The Twins seem better off using Gabriel Gonzalez and Ben Ross as platoon bats instead of Pham. Sure, Pham has much more experience, but Gonzalez and Ross have much higher ceilings, and giving the two prospects MLB experience should benefit both them and the Twins long-term.
Pham could've brought bad vibes to the clubhouse as well. In 2022, Pham, then with the Reds, was suspended for three games for slapping Joc Pederson, then with the San Francisco Giants, on the cheek over a text Pederson sent in a fantasy football group chat. More recently, Pham got into a long, heated argument with Reds outfielder Dane Myers over defensive metrics on X. I'm not saying that Pham is for sure a terrible person. But he clearly tends to ruffle some feathers.
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