White Sox To Acquire Tommy Pham

The White Sox are acquiring outfielder Tommy Pham from the Phillies, reports Jeff Passan of ESPN. The Phils will get cash considerations in return, per James Fegan of the Chicago Sun-Times. Passan adds that the Sox are expected to select Pham to their roster when rosters expand tomorrow. Chicago has a full 40-man roster and will need to make a corresponding move to open a spot for Pham. A trade is allowed after the deadline because Pham was on a minor league deal with the Phils and that contract had not been selected to the majors at any point. Since he is being acquired by the September 1 cutoff, he will be eligible to play for the Sox in the postseason. Pham has lots of big league success on his track record but is now a 38-year-old journeyman. Dating back to the start of 2020, he has played for the Padres, Reds, Red Sox, Mets, Diamondbacks, White Sox, Cardinals, Royals, Pirates and Mets. His production in that span has mostly been underwhelming. Over 2,730 plate appearances, he has a .240/.321/.382 line and 95 wRC+, indicating he has been 5% worse than league average. In the offseason, Pham said that he had been playing through plantar fasciitis for a few years but hoped that a stem cell treatment could get him back on track in 2026. He signed a minor league deal with the Mets in March and was selected to that club’s roster in April. He was on the roster for a couple of weeks but hardly played, going hitless in 14 plate appearances. He was designated for assignment, became a free agent and signed a minor league deal with the Orioles. He later opted out of that pact and signed a new deal with the Phillies. Since signing that latter deal about two months ago, he has been in decent form in Triple-A. He has stepped to the plate 189 times for Lehigh Valley with just three home runs but a huge 16.9% walk rate. His 20.1% strikeout rate is also a strong figure. He put up a .250/.381/.391 line with the IronPigs, with that production translating to a 110 wRC+, indicating he was 10% better than league average. Despite that solid performance, it seems the Phils didn’t have much interest in calling him up. Bob Nightengale of USA Today reports that the club has been shopping him for about a week. The Philadelphia outfield needed help after Adolis García required season-ending shoulder surgery in June. The Phillies looked for outfield help ahead of the deadline but addressed that issue indirectly. They acquired Luis Arraez from the Giants and put him at second base. That bumped Bryson Stott to third, Alec Bohm to first and Bryce Harper to right field. With Harper in right and Brandon Marsh in left, plus Bryan De La Cruz and Derek Hill on the bench, there wasn’t much need for Pham. Other clubs came calling, however. Jon Heyman of The New York Post reports that the Rangers and Twins had interest but it’s the Sox who got the deal done. Chicago has Sam Antonacci, Tristan Peters and Braden Montgomery getting regular playing time on the grass. Antonacci and Peters are lefties. Montgomery is a switch-hitter but has better numbers as a lefty. The Sox already have Randal Grichuk and Brenton Doyle on the roster as complementary righty bats for the outfield. With rosters expanding, they have evidently decided to add a third. Pham has fairly neutral splits in his career but is hitting lefties well in the minors this year. He has a 250/.361/.500 line with the platoon advantage compared to a .218/.346/.351 line without it. For the Twins and Rangers, they also have a lot of lefty bats in their respective lineups. If they still want to add a complementary righty bat, they still have some time to add external options who would be postseason eligible. Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images