Padres giving up too much in pending Pham trade

The San Diego Padres are reportedly close to acquiring Tommy Pham from the Tampa Bay Rays, but they gave up too much in order to get him.

San Diego Padres GM A.J. Preller knew that he had to step it up this winter because his job was potentially on the line. But if you were to say you expected him to sign Drew Pomeranz to a four-year deal, trade for Trent Grisham, Zack Davies, Jurickson Profar, and now Tommy Pham I would tell you that you were ridiculous.

But it looks like the Tommy Pham trade with the Tampa Bay Rays is going to be finalized sometime this weekend, according to Dennis Lin of The Athletic.

The Padres gave up too much to get Tommy Pham in this trade in my opinion. Hunter Renfroe and Xavier Edwards are going to the Rays for Pham and a minor leaguer named Jake Cronenworth.

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I want to make it clear that I really like Tommy Pham. He is a complete player that gets in base and hits for average, but it’s what the Padres gave up is what I am questioning.

With due respect to Cronenworth who hit over .330 in Triple-A last year and is going to compete for time at second base with Tatis at shortstop, Xavier Edwards was going to be the Padres second baseman in 2021, and A.J. Preller knew how good he was and what he brings to the table but he chose to give him away. Evaluators reportedly love Edwards and his athleticism, so the Rays are getting a good one.

According to Jon Heyman on Twitter, one NL executive said, “Bad trade for the Padres. Xavier Edwards can really play.”

Now let’s get to Pham and Renfroe. Tommy Pham is a very good outfielder and seems to slot into left field for the San Diego Padres on Opening Day, but he was Preller’s target in this trade, not Cronenworth.

But Pham only has two years of major league control while Renfroe has double the amount of control now with the Rays. Renfroe was arguably San Diego’s most complete outfielder, and he showed that with an All-Star caliber first half performance despite not being elected.

Pham, on the other hand, gets on-base and has been able to solve righties, unlike Renfroe. Pham is on a streak of three straight 21 home run seasons with 15 stolen bases, which shows how consistent he is.

But Preller also gave up a power bat in his lineup with his future starting second baseman for two years of control for Pham and a second baseman when the team just acquired a second baseman in Profar last week.

What this tells me is Preller and the rest of the front office are more confident in C.J. Abrams than they were with Edwards.

If I were Preller, I would’ve been hesitant to give up Edwards, but if I did I would have to be very confident that I would be able to extend Pham.