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When to End the Pham Era?
#1 · May 19, 2021, 10:37 am
So far in 2021 Pham has 109 AB with a 183/316/220 (536 OPS) slash line. His wRC+ is 82nd out of 89 OF with greater than 100 PA. That is really unacceptable for a LF on a contending team. He is 33. Last season (also in 109 AB) his slash line was only 211/312/312 (624 OPS). Also, not impressive. All semblance of power is missing (this year 1 2B and 1 HR ... and he is a middle of the order bat.
Excuses abound ... but two straight years of poor offensive production at ages 32 and 33 plus clearly poor defense has to be addressed. This is a results based business and what is best for the TEAM and winning needs to be the priority over Pham.
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Now a lot of excuses about injuries and hype about is taking pitches and being a model for the other players ... but does that really make the team better ... Padres are among the worst offensive units in the NL.
I guess they have to factor in:
- it is still early with only 25% of the season in
- Padres have the 2nd best record in the NL
- no really compelling (proven) replacements
Not sure what they do and when they do it ... but the Pham of the past two seasons is hurting the Padres playoff chances.
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poolie
#2 · May 19, 2021, 11:22 am
LOL....I have been saying this since the day they got him....if he was so damn good why did the Cardinals trade him...why did the Rays trade him ?.......flim flam Pham.....I would take my chances with O'Grady....Pham does nothing for me and besides anybody that goes to Pacers to have "Dinner"......well you get the point
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#3 · May 19, 2021, 11:31 am
Should of never resigned him!
After the stabbing in the strip club car park, thought management would run a mile.....probably wishing they had now.
Time to give someone else an opportunity, see if we get lucky with O'Grady, Andrioli, Ruta.
The Pham experiment brings back nightmares of Ryan Ludwick....another Cardinal band box disaster.
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poolie
#4 · May 19, 2021, 11:43 am
And to top it off, he's been BAD defensively too. I'm not a fan of Profar as an every day replacement, but I do think they should and will start platooning them: with Profar getting the "heavy" side vs RHP. Profar provides the same or even more patience at plate (Pham does still have a good batting eye), better defense, but no improvement in power.
Pham isn't hitting either alternating OR playing every day so far. If Pham can't hit & slug LHP say from now through the end of the 34 games / 35 days stretch being well rested as a platooner, he might become an in season "mistake" release like Pujols. Could try Mateo as the RH part of platoon, but still no real power & lose the experienced pro "eye"; Mateo has 2 BB in >70 MLB PA. At least his speed would probably yield more doubles, and give him way better defensive range.
O'Grady at some point might be a platoon option to try to find some pop, but vs RHP. The possible "not good enough for a WS contender" platoon I could see in 2022 is (don't laugh) O'Grady/Profar & Ona.
Corner OF with power a trade deadline need, but available options might be; and $$$ (7 MM from tax penalty threshold) & trade ammo limitations will be limiting factors. Might look for a band aid, with "the answer" to be found via Trade or FA in offseason (I expect Pads to go > Tax penalty threshold in 2022; due to needs & proration of Tatis' contract).
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poolie
#5 · May 19, 2021, 11:47 am
Quote from WindsorUK on May 19, 2021, 11:31 amShould of never resigned him!
After the stabbing in the strip club car park, thought management would run a mile.....probably wishing they had now.
Time to give someone else an opportunity, see if we get lucky with O'Grady, Andrioli, Ruta.
The Pham experiment brings back nightmares of Ryan Ludwick....another Cardinal band box disaster.
Oh God... Ludwick. ugh
What bothers me about NOT Non Tendering him is the "revelation" in ST that the stab wound was extremely deep & serious: >100 stitches & per Dr: "likely would have paralyzed or KILLED a less muscular person"!! That was the first time we'd all heard that, but...
Pads HAD to have known how serious the injury was (on top of ANOTHER wrist surgery)... I realize we did not have Profar signed when we had to decide to tender Pham (Profar would have held us hostage for an even bigger deal), but it did seem like there were FA options out there given that our payroll did not end up being a limiting factor. If he were a FA vs an arb control guy, there is NO WAY we would have signed him to a 1 yr 9 MM deal under the exact same circumstances; just from a health risk standpoint, let alone the judgement issue.
Seems like at LEAST if another team didn't claim him for his Arb salary, we could have renegotiated a 1 yr "prove it" deal with a lower base & incentives back up to his arb amount of 9 MM; 6 + 3 something like that.
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poolie
#6 · May 20, 2021, 1:02 am
And the ghost of Ryan Ludwick rears its ugly head one more time, as if 2 Cy Youngs weren't painful enough....
https://www.mlb.com/news/corey-kluber-throws-yankees-no-hitter-against-texas-rangers
Thought Kluber would have been a decent investment for us this past off season....certainly better than giving that money to Pham.
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poolie
#7 · May 29, 2021, 8:42 am
It was a fair question on May 19th ... now? Seems like the situation has improved ...
Slashing .333/.500/.700 over his last 40 PAs (8 games) ...
Padres NEED him ... NOW! And he's doing it ...
#8 · May 29, 2021, 1:56 pm
Pham is finally putting up the offense we hoped he would!
I hope Tingler leaves him alone in the top spot.
Be nice if Tommy continues to contribute. Without him, we'd be chasing the Duds.
I'm happy for the guy....and for us.
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LynchMob
#9 · July 26, 2021, 8:31 am
Pham is not going anywhere this season BUT he is a FA after the season and the question should become whether the Padres try to re-sign him.
He is 33 … has a high opinion of this worth suggesting he will be seeking a multi-year deal with an AAV well above his current $9MM salary.
On one hand, if there is a DH next season, the Padres will need to be adding a bat .. so will have to pay for someone TBD. Padres actually like Pham … he fits their current style of play with OBP / low K%.
On the other hand, should a team pay him a premium contract at age 34 and beyond coming off a poor 2020 and an up and down 2021? He is sitting with a OPS of .792 which is lower than his career number of .826 … getting older should not help. His month pattern … .503-.797-.1.074-.709 … can bias one toward the bad April or the excellent June.
Who is the alternative (no one in-house if there is a DH) and can the Padres get him at a equal or lesser deal? Can the Padres push for a more expensive (but younger and better option) knowing that in 2023 they are out of Myers deal and Hosmer salary drops (or he opts out).
Since in the era of MLB …older is generally not good … would pass on Pham and “gamble” on securing a younger option who is equal or better on a long term deal..
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LynchMob
#10 · July 26, 2021, 8:48 am
Lets say that both Pham and Nelson Cruz are both looking for $12-14M next year, that SD would chose to chase Cruz. Much better bat, and IMO would fit better in the dugout over Pham.
So I think its entirely possible Pham prices himself out of most teams opinion of Pham.