Rays Reportedly Trade Tommy Pham to Padres for Hunter Renfroe and Prospect Xavier Edwards
Tommy Pham is on the move once again.
The San Diego Padres made several moves to improve last offseason, including the addition of Manny Machado, and are reportedly in win-now mode. Their latest decision reflects that.
The deal sending Tommy Pham from the Tampa Bay Rays to the San Diego Padres is done, sources tell ESPN. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe and middle-infield prospect Xavier Edwards head back to the Rays. Padres will get another minor leaguer.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 6, 2019
The Padres made a huge splash by signing Machado last offseason. That came after signing Eric Hosmer in 2018. Pham is not on a similar level as those two but he is an everyday player with a career 14.6 WAR.
Paired with Hosmer, Machado and Fernando Tatis, Jr., the Pads have an exciting core heading into 2020.
#Rays would save about $5.2M in this proposed Tommy Pham-Hunter Renfoe trade with #Padres... https://t.co/2gfQOOxrv0
— John Sabol (@John_Sabol) December 6, 2019
San Diego has not been to the playoffs since 2006 and need to go all-in to get back. In fact, the team has not even won more than 80 games since 2010.
Pham is under team control through 2021 and the Padres would likely try to extend him if he is acquired. Just last year, Pham hit .271 with 21 home runs and 68 RBIs. He has All-Star potential, if surrounded by the right players. This is reflected by the Rays return package.
Give Padres ownership credit for putting their money where their mouth is, but it came at the cost of an exciting young prospect in Xavier Edwards.