MIAMI – About 24 hours before Tuesday’s 6 p.m. trade deadline, the Cincinnati Reds were finalizing a trade to send left fielder Tommy Pham to the Boston Red Sox for a player to be named later, sources confirmed to The Enquirer.
Pham was scratched from the Reds’ lineup minutes before the first pitch Monday in Miami, and he was informed he was traded.
He’s eligible to become a free agent at the end of the season and the Red Sox will pick up about $2.1 million for the remainder of his salary. By rule, the player to be named later cannot be someone who is on a club’s 40-man roster and is typically a lower-level prospect.
It’s the third trade for the rebuilding Reds since Thursday, sending outfielder Tyler Naquin to the New York Mets and Luis Castillo to the Seattle Mariners for young prospects.
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After trading Naquin and Pham, the Reds’ outfield consists of Nick Senzel, Jake Fraley and Albert Almora. Aristides Aquino remains on a rehab assignment and Stuart Fairchild is on the taxi squad.
The Reds still have several trade candidates before Tuesday’s deadline. Infielders Brandon Drury and Donovan Solano are eligible to become free agents at the end of the season. Right-hander Tyler Mahle may be the best pitcher available on the trade market after Oakland shipped Frankie Montas to the New York Yankees. Mike Minor and Hunter Strickland are options for playoff contenders searching for pitching depth.
Pham hit .238 with 11 doubles, 11 homers, 39 RBI and 57 runs in 91 games this season. He slumped throughout July, which he called the worst month of his career, with a .204 batting average, two doubles, one triple, zero homers and a .255 on-base percentage.
He had one of baseball’s most memorable moments in the season after he slapped San Francisco Giants outfielder Joc Pederson before a game in May and was suspended for three games. He said he was willing to fight San Diego’s Luke Voit after a slide at the plate, which he thought was a dirty play, left catcher Tyler Stephenson with a concussion.
In the clubhouse, Pham was a well-respected veteran known for his consistent approach and his relentlessness on the bases. He stole seven bases in nine attempts.
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It was the third time the 34-year-old Pham was traded in his nine-year career. The Reds signed him as a free agent after they traded Jesse Winker, along with Eugenio Suárez, to the Mariners in March.
He signed a one-year, $7.5 million contract with the Reds during spring training, which includes a $6 million mutual option for the 2023 season and a $1 million buyout. He’s received an additional $200,000 through incentives and can earn an additional $800,000 if he surpasses 600 plate appearances.
Pham became an obvious trade candidate after the Reds opened with a 3-22 record as a pending free agent. Still, he offered a lot of praise for the coaching staff and the team’s talent throughout the year.
“We were down six position players and we didn’t have Castillo and Minor,” Pham said of the Reds’ three-win April. “This team is close. I said it already This is a good team. Bad things happened to us early in the year and we put ourselves in a big hole.”
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