Former Padres Outfielder Who Nearly Re-Signed Last Winter is Designated For Assignment

Maren Angus-Coombs | Sep 1, 2024

Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports

The St. Louis Cardinals designated former San Diego Padres outfielder Tommy Pham for assignment on Friday. Saturday, he signed with the Kansas City Royals.

Speaking to reporters Sunday, Pham insisted there were no hard feelings. He requested his waiver placement:

Tommy Pham thanks his former team for giving him the chance to join a contender: "I'm just thankful the Cardinals granted my request to get put on waivers so that this could happen. Ultimately, man, they did me a good deed." #Royals pic.twitter.com/lEvO7Kuh3a

— Bally Sports Kansas City (@BallySportsKC) September 1, 2024

Pham batted .206 with two homers and 12 runs batted in across 23 games for St. Louis after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline. He hit .266 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 70 games with the White Sox.

The outfielder signed with the White Sox because of money. He weighed the two offers and Chicago's offer went further because of Illinois' state income tax being less than California's.

Pham has had much luck staying put with one team this season. His trade from the White Sox was a blessing in disguise going from the worst team in Major League Baseball to a team playing for postseason possibilities. Unfortuantely, his second stint with the Cardinals didn't go as he hoped it would have.

In his first stint with St. Louis form 2014 to 2018, Pham crushed a career-best 23 homers in 2017.

The Royals also added Robbie Grossman from the Texas Rangers on Saturday and hours later, they traded for Yuli Gurriel from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for cash considerations.

“This time of year, you're very limited in how you can acquire players, and waivers is one way to do it,” Royals general manager J.J. Picollo said. “We had interest in [Pham and Grossman] at the Deadline. Obviously, we didn't get them, but we just kind of kept monitoring … what they were doing, along with others, and we put in the claim the other day.

“It’s rare you get two guys in one day, but this is one of those cases that went our way. It should provide a lot of depth.”

The Royals reportedly were interested in trading for Pham at the deadline before the Cardinals acquired him. Waiting it out worked out in their favor.

“He makes you a better team by his intensity,” said manager Matt Quatraro, who was the bench coach for Tampa Bay during Pham’s two seasons with the Rays (2018-19). “He comes here with one purpose every day, and that's to kick your butt.”

Pham can play either left or right field and bring a wealth of postseason knowledge to a young Kansas City squad. The 36-year-old was a member of the National League pennant-winning Arizona Diamondbacks last season.

Pham is a .258 career hitter with 137 homers, 462 RBIs, and 125 steals in 1,098 career games over parts of 11 seasons with the Cardinals, Padres, Reds, Red Sox, and Mets.