The Tampa Bay Rays and San Diego Padres have agreed on a trade, per multiple reports. The deal would send outfielder Tommy Pham to San Diego while outfielder Hunter Renfroe and shortstop prospect Xavier Edwards to the Rays, as first reported by both Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic and Jeff Passan of ESPN. Passan later reported the deal has been finalized. Both reports indicate a prospect would head to the Padres from the Rays to complete the deal.
Pham, 31, would give the Padres an above-average everyday outfielder who is a very good all-around athlete. He hit .273/.369/.450 with 33 doubles, 21 homers, 68 RBI, 77 runs and 25 steals last season for the Rays. He's played mostly left field, but has also handled center at times through his career.
If he is dealt to the Padres, Pham would slot in left field everyday and would be a nice fit in the two-hole between Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado in the lineup.
The Rays would likely be dealing Pham because he's set for a big payday in his second year of arbitration -- MLB Trade Rumors projects $8.6 million -- and is eligible for free agency after 2021. That's just how they do things.
On the flip side, Renfroe is only projected to make $3.4 million and he's under team control through 2023. Renfroe, 27, hit .216/.289/.489 with 33 homers and 64 RBI last season. He would likely slot in the five-hole in the Rays' lineup for next season at this point.
As for Edwards, he's the No. 5 prospect in the Padres system, per MLB.com. He was a supplemental first-round pick in 2018, 38th overall, out of high school. Edwards, 20, hit .322/.375/.396 with 34 stolen bases between Class A (77 games) and Class A-Advanced (46 games) last season. He's been playing both second base and shortstop.
Short term the deal is a win for the Padres and they do need to start winning. Edwards is the long-term wild card here. There's certainly a way to view this deal as a possible mutually beneficial one down the road.
