Ex-Red Sox Expected To Bring ‘Stability’ To NL West Contender
'It's a good complement of what we're trying to become'
Tommy Pham packed his bags just ahead of the 6 p.m. ET trade deadline, dealt from the New York Mets to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Pham, who signed with the Mets during the offseason in part of New York’s jaw-dropping spending spree, was one of many to recently depart the Big Apple. The Mets were big-time sellers, calling it quits after failing to climb above .500 before the deadline arrived. But that’s exactly what a contending team like the Diamondbacks needed.
Arizona snagged Pham plus cash considerations in exchange for infield prospect Jeremy Rodriguez. And even at 35 years of age, the Diamondbacks see plenty of value in Pham.
“The stuff we heard about him in the clubhouse in New York, from a work ethic, a drive to want to be great to what winning matters,” Diamondbacks general manager Mike Hazen told MLB Network Radio on Tuesday. “It was something that — I think we have a young lineup. That young lineup, to me, in July, has wavered a little bit at times with our approach. I think the stability of somebody like Tommy. … I think it’s a good complement of what we’re trying to become.”
Pham played in 79 games for the Mets, batting .268 with 10 home runs, 15 doubles and 36 RBIs.
This puts the 10-year veteran in the same situation Pham found himself in a year ago when the Cincinnati Reds traded him to the Boston Red Sox — a move he welcomed at the time.
However, this time Pham gets a shot to contribute to a possible late-season October run.
