Former Red Sox Outfielder Shares Trade Deadline Story To Boston
'I thought it was cool'
Tommy Pham’s arrival to the Red Sox was both abrupt and unexpected last season, getting dealt to Boston right before the Major League Baseball trade deadline in 2022.
The current New York Mets outfielder explained the experience of getting dealt halfway into his first season with the Cincinnati Reds, with thoughts of getting dealt quickly fading away before the deadline arrived. Pham was in the middle of preparing for a game before receiving the news that he’d been dealt, left wondering where to.
“I got traded right at the deadline and the game was about to start so I was left with the impression that, OK I wasn’t gonna get traded, because it was literally minutes before the game and I wasn’t playing well,” Pham told WEEI’s Rob Bradford on Audacy Sports’ “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast. “But then David Bell, my manager at the time, pulled me and said I had been traded but he didn’t know where yet, and then shortly after, I found out that it was the Red Sox.”
Meanwhile, the Red Sox received a short-term depth piece in Pham, giving Boston solid time off the bench during the final two months of the season.
Pham batted .234 with six home runs, 12 doubles and 24 RBIs, including one memorable walk-off against the New York Yankees, in 91 games played with the Red Sox. The 35-year-old might’ve been shocked by the news that his time in Cincinnati was over, but Pham had an optimistic feeling before first arriving in Boston.
“I thought it was cool because I’ve had relationships with guys on the Red Sox and (Alex) Cora is such a great guy so I was excited at the same time,” Pham explained.
History could repeat itself for Pham ahead of the trade deadline this season with the Mets miserably underachieving, failing to maintain an above-.500 record, and hopes of the postseason not being in New York’s cards.
