Tampa Bay Rays acquire Tommy Pham from the St Louis Cardinals

The Tampa Bay Rays have reportedly acquired outfielder Tommy Pham from the St Louis Cardinals for three prospects.

A 16th round selection in the 2006 draft, Pham made his MLB debut during the 2014 season. At one point, he was ranked as the best defensive outfielder in the Cardinals system by Baseball America.

Pham had a career year in 2017 for the Cardinals when he accrued 6.1 fWAR and slashed .306/.411/.520 while he mashed 23 HR and stole 25 bases. He hasn’t been as good in 2018, but still solid, posting 1.5 fWAR over 98 games.

Pham is 30 years old and is under team control through the 2021 season. He will be arbitration eligible for the first time this off-season. Per the Rays press release, Pham became the first Cardinals player with at least 20 homers and 20 steals in a single season since Reggie Sanders in 2004, and is the only player in franchise history to do that with a .300 avg. or better.

In return for Pham, the Rays are sending a trio of prospects to the Cardinals: OF Justin Williams, LHP Genesis Cabrera, and RHP Roel Ramirez. The Rays are also receiving international signing slot money from the Cardinals.

To seal the deal, the Cardinals will also provide international signing money:

This is a very surprising trade deadline move by the Rays as Pham will presumably take over in left field for the Rays until the team trades more pieces. He had been playing center field for the Cardinals prior to the trade, but could slot well into right field in the long term.

Chris Archer was not part of this deal and the Rays still have several other players they are likely trying to move, stay tuned.