The Arizona Diamondbacks are acquiring outfielder Tommy Pham in a trade with the New York Mets, a league source confirmed to The Athletic. Here’s what you need to know:
- New York will receive shortstop prospect Jeremy Rodriguez in return, according to the source.
- The Mets and Diamondbacks are splitting Pham’s remaining salary, which is roughly $1.7 million, this season.
- Pham, 35, is batting .268 with 10 home runs and 36 RBIs in 79 games with the Mets this season.
- The move comes after the Mets dealt Justin Verlander to the Astros earlier Tuesday.
The Athletic’s instant analysis:
Scouting report
Whatever the expectations were for Pham coming into his first season with the Mets, the 35-year-old surpassed them. Over the offseason, few teams expressed any interest in Pham, who was coming off a down season split between Cincinnati and Boston. However, he showcased enough to entice the Mets, who were in the market for a fourth-outfielder type because of his speed and power against left-handed pitching and ability to play sparingly in center field. He turned into a coup.
Maybe the fresh pairs of contact lenses worked. Maybe the Mets’ analytics team motivated him. Maybe he just needed more playing time. No matter the reason behind Pham’s surge since mid-May, he turned into the Mets’ most productive and most consistent batter, which says a lot about the club and reveals plenty about him.
Scouts have identified him as someone with some strong bat speed and plenty of motivation to win who can probably sustain a solid level of play for the rest of the season. — Sammon
Required reading
(Photo: Rich Schultz / Getty Images)
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