Red Sox acquire Tommy Pham

Petagine in a Bottle

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Suzuki and Schwarber were off the board by then, so kind of curious as to why the Sox didn’t pull the trigger; ultimately deciding to go into the season with Arroyo as their backup OF. Oh well.
 

Rovin Romine

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So, how much help for the putrid offense in the first approx. 5 weeks of the season would Pham have provided. . .
It was against different pitching in a different league at a different park. . .but that said, he hit well the first month, slumped in May, and hit very well in June. That would have fit in very well for us if the same pattern had happened.
 

scottyno

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So, how much help for the putrid offense in the first approx. 5 weeks of the season would Pham have provided if Bloom had sweetened the offer a tad more?
He's only 1 guy and he presumably would have been a part time platoon player, so probably not that much. Maybe they'd have 1 more win.
 

gattman

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It would be really interesting to know what Bloom’s plan for RF was coming into the season. B/c I have a hard time believing it was “I hope JBJ somehow rebounds to the guy he was in 2015 or 2016. Or any year in which he hit better than Sandy Leon.”

I presume something fell through. And this is what we were left with.
 

AB in DC

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He's only 1 guy and he presumably would have been a part time platoon player, so probably not that much. Maybe they'd have 1 more win.
More than that, I'd think. That's a lot of at-bats taken by JBJ, Jaylin Davis, and Jarren Duran that never would nave happened if Pham were here in April. And with Kike's injury, JBJ would be playing more innings at CF where he belongs, rather than RF. How many games did Duran cost us with his terrible fielding?
 

gattman

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He's only 1 guy and he presumably would have been a part time platoon player, so probably not that much. Maybe they'd have 1 more win.
This. It’s not like they knew Kike would be injured/ineffective much of the season. Heading into the season Pham didn’t make a lot of sense for us but it made less sense for him. He was always likely to go where he’d get playing time.
 

Super Nomario

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This. It’s not like they knew Kike would be injured/ineffective much of the season. Heading into the season Pham didn’t make a lot of sense for us but it made less sense for him. He was always likely to go where he’d get playing time.
Even with Hernandez, we still entered the year with only two starting OF for three spots.
 

scottyno

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More than that, I'd think. That's a lot of at-bats taken by JBJ, Jaylin Davis, and Jarren Duran that never would nave happened if Pham were here in April. And with Kike's injury, JBJ would be playing more innings at CF where he belongs, rather than RF. How many games did Duran cost us with his terrible fielding?
In the first 5 weeks none because he wasn't on the team. Over a full season those 3 have been a combined -2.7 WPA with the bat, and about neutral with the glove. WIth Kike's injury there still would have been a bunch of playing time for some combo of JBJ and Duran, so realistically you're maybe looking at 2 more wins to date if Pham started the year with the Sox.

This. It’s not like they knew Kike would be injured/ineffective much of the season. Heading into the season Pham didn’t make a lot of sense for us but it made less sense for him. He was always likely to go where he’d get playing time.
He made sense as a platoon guy for the Sox, which is pretty clearly what they wanted him for or else he wouldn't have gone to the Reds for $6m. $6m would have been a lot to pay for the smaller end of a platoon, so I'm a bit skeptical when Pham says they were close that they actually were.
 
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Van Everyman

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Kike, Verdugo and JBJ. Where are you getting two.
He’s saying JBJ isn’t a starter.

I agree that it’s possible something fell through. I also think that the team may have had plans for Schwarber the lockout messed up. And, I also think it’s possible that the theory discussed upthread (elsewhere?) about Chaim thinking the lockout might last much longer than anticipated might’ve been an impetus to roll the dice with JBJ. Lots of intriguing questions and what-ifs.
 

chawson

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Adding Pham in the spring would have helped a lot, but FWIW would have come at the cost of Refsnyder, who we conceivably control through 2024. I don’t think everyone is fully sold on him as a long-term asset, but his production this year has been quite legit.