To be fair, the San Diego Padres are quietly having a nice off-season.
Furthermore, if you’re keeping score at home; they have added Zach Davies, Jurickson Profar, and then the biggest addition happened late Thursday night. Indeed, the Padres acquired outfielder Tommy Pham from the Tampa Rays. This news was reported by ESPN’s Jeff Passan on twitter.
The deal sending Tommy Pham from the Tampa Bay Rays to the San Diego Padres is done, sources tell ESPN. Outfielder Hunter Renfroe and middle-infield prospect Xavier Edwards head back to the Rays. Padres will get another minor leaguer.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) December 6, 2019
Pham is coming off a year where he hit .273 with an .818 OPS. By some standards, this would be a fine season for any player. However for the 31-year old Pham it was seen as pale in comparison to the phenomenal year he had in 2017. Still, he homered 21 times and stole 25 bases in 29 attempts. He posted a bWAR of 3.7.
All of this means that San Diego adds another very solid player to a nucleus that wasn’t far off to begin with. Of course, they’re constantly compared to the measuring stick that is the Los Angeles Dodgers. When looking at what the Dodgers have done so far – they are miles ahead of the Dodgers since the season ended.
Equally important, the Padres only gave up a nameless prospect and outfielder Hunter Renfroe in the deal.
Remember, San Diego already has Manny Machado, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Chris Paddack among some other really nice nucleus players.
For now, they are a nice darkhorse pick to win the NL West in 2020; if things remain unchanged. Furthermore, if they can acquire a Stephen Strasburg or a marquee free agent; one might wonder if they have become the odds-on favorite in the division.
