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Tommy Pham 'shocked' by trade to Rays
ST. LOUIS -- Tommy Pham awoke to the news he had been traded on Tuesday morning, courtesy of a phone call from St. Louis Cardinals president John Mozeliak.
The outfielder is headed to join the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the deal, a year after establishing himself as one of the National League's top outfielders -- and providing yet another shake-up for the struggling Cardinals in the process.
St. Louis sent the 30-year-old and $500,000 in international signing bonus allocation to the Rays for a trio of minor leaguers: outfielder Justin Williams, left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Roel Ramirez.
Pham has been a member of the Cardinals organization since selected on the 16th round of the 2006 amateur draft. After a series of injuries, the center fielder had a breakout season in 2017 when he hit .306 with 23 homers and 25 steals in 128 games. He was 11th in the NL MVP voting.
Pham is hitting .248 with 14 home runs, 41 RBI and 10 stolen bases this season. He talked during spring training of a 30-30 season in homers and steals, and he batted .358 in April before dropping to .197 in May and June.
Williams, 22, is a former second-round draft pick and left-handed-hitting outfielder who was batting .258 for Triple-A Durham. He made his major league debut this month and was an International League All-Star.
Cabrera, 21, is 7-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 21 games for Montgomery of the Double-A Southern League.
Ramirez, 23, was 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 games as a reliever for Montgomery.
The outfielder is headed to join the Tampa Bay Rays as part of the deal, a year after establishing himself as one of the National League's top outfielders -- and providing yet another shake-up for the struggling Cardinals in the process.
St. Louis sent the 30-year-old and $500,000 in international signing bonus allocation to the Rays for a trio of minor leaguers: outfielder Justin Williams, left-hander Genesis Cabrera and right-hander Roel Ramirez.
Pham has been a member of the Cardinals organization since selected on the 16th round of the 2006 amateur draft. After a series of injuries, the center fielder had a breakout season in 2017 when he hit .306 with 23 homers and 25 steals in 128 games. He was 11th in the NL MVP voting.
Pham is hitting .248 with 14 home runs, 41 RBI and 10 stolen bases this season. He talked during spring training of a 30-30 season in homers and steals, and he batted .358 in April before dropping to .197 in May and June.
Williams, 22, is a former second-round draft pick and left-handed-hitting outfielder who was batting .258 for Triple-A Durham. He made his major league debut this month and was an International League All-Star.
Cabrera, 21, is 7-6 with a 4.12 ERA in 21 games for Montgomery of the Double-A Southern League.
Ramirez, 23, was 3-1 with a 3.32 ERA in 26 games as a reliever for Montgomery.