Tommy Pham currently has a 129 OPS+, the highest mark on the team among those with at least 10 PA. Pham has hit the ball hard all year but has gotten that shiny mark thanks to a six-week hot streak. From 5/17-7/22, a span of 34 games and 126 PA, Pham posted a .360/.413/.640 mark, thanks in part to a .438 BABIP. It wasn’t just the hits falling in, as he had 19 XBH, including 6 HR. And for good measure, Pham also successfully stole all seven times he tried in this span.
He’s been extremely good.
But, in the 81 PA before the streak, he had a .632 OPS and in his last 12 games, Pham has a .143/.318/.171 line. Many people have advocated for the Mets to be both buyers and sellers at this year’s trade deadline. If they are to adopt this strategy, there’s no better guy to sell than Pham. You always hear people say you should sell high and there’s no one more at the top of their value than Pham. He’s the equivalent of Enron stock in early September of 2000.
Having said that, expectations should not be that Pham will bring an impact player in return. Yesterday, David Groveman came out with his updated top 20 list and at 16 he had Dominic Hamel, a former third-round draft pick with great stuff, but one who has a 5.09 ERA as a 24 year old in Double-A. This would be the type of guy to expect in return. Maybe it’s not that exact profile but somebody who has things going for him but one who also has his share of warts, too.
My opinion is that Hamel is overrated – mlb.com has him as the Mets’ sixth-best prospect. But it’s among the possibilities that the Mets switch him to a reliever and he becomes someone who can contribute down the road to the major league team. The bullpen of an MLB club should have guys who came up thru the system as starters but who couldn’t hack it. Then they found success once switched to the pen. Hamel could be that guy, if everything breaks right.
It may be tough to hear that all your best hitter is worth is a prospect with warts, one who might provide some value as a middle reliever if everything breaks right. But if the 2023 Mets have taught us anything, it’s that we shouldn’t take middle relievers for granted. It would be nice if the manager could trust one of his “B” relievers to hold a six-run lead in the ninth inning.
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I am not BobP
I’m not BobP, either! Chris, it’s displaying your name in both the front end and the back end for me.
Next 8 games are their last shot. Go 7-1 or 6-2and there’s reason for hope.
Rentals of ok players don’t bring back alot. Pham will be gone at the end of the season, so to extract some value would be great. We really need to see what Mauricio and Vientos can do. And this season has really showed us why we need better relief pitchers.
I am still really ticked off that we traded Pete Crow for the Baez rental.
Cmon guys, it’s Wednesday, let’s not wait until the last minute to make some trades.
The Mets are trading right-hander David Robertson to the Miami Marlins, according to multiple reports.
The Mets will receive two minor league position players: infielder Marco Vargas and catcher Ronald Hernandez. The team will reportedly not send money to the Marlins in the deal so Miami will pay the remainder of his $10 million salary.