In a substantial late-night MLB trade, the San Diego Padres have reportedly acquired outfielder Tommy Pham and infield prospect Jake Cronenworth from the Tampa Bay Rays in exchange for outfielder Hunter Renfroe and infield prospect Xavier Edwards.
Tampa Bay star pitcher Blake Snell was streaming live on Twitch when he learned about the trade.
“We gave up Pham for Renfroe and a damn slapdick prospect?”
It’s easy to understand Snell’s frustration.
Pham has averaged 4.5 wins above replacement over the last three seasons according to FanGraphs. The 31-year-old is a proven, star player with consistently solid power and on-base skills.
Renfroe has plenty of power himself (33 homers in 2019), but with just a .289 on-base percentage and a 31.9 strikeout % to go with it. He’s a clear downgrade on paper from Pham at the moment.
Edwards — 20 years old and the 38th overall pick in the 2018 draft — is a very intriguing prospect, but the Rays just won 96 games and should be trying to win championships right now, and this trade doesn’t improve their chances to do that. That’s obviously not going to go over well with veteran players like Snell, and especially when much of this trade is likely about money.
And that’s not even much money in the Major League Baseball world, but it is on an annual basis for the Tampa Bay Rays.