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When star slugger Ronald Acuña Jr. suffered a complete tear in his left anterior cruciate ligament in May, it left the Atlanta Braves without their top hitter and outfielder for the rest of the 2024 season. With the July 30 trade deadline approaching, the Braves need fill the gap in their roster, and a prediction by The Athletic’s Andy McCullough has identified the Chicago White Sox‘s Tommy Pham as a top potential target.
“Atlanta knows it can’t replace Ronald Acuña Jr. with one person,” McCullough wrote on July 2. “But they can try to remake him in the aggregate. Pham would improve the club’s performance against left-handed pitching. He can handle multiple outfield positions. He plays with an edge. The Braves once traded for Joc Pederson to enliven the offense en route to a championship, and this would be an amusing bookend to that whole thing. What more do you need?”
After struggling with the Boston Red Sox in 2022, Pham had somewhat of a comeback year with the New York Mets last season, before being traded to the Arizona Diamondbacks at the trade deadline. After playing in the 2023 World Series with the Diamondbacks, he became a free agent at the end of the season, and eventually signed a minor-league deal with the White Sox on April 15. Pham was added to Chicago’s major-league roster on April 26 after triggering an opt-out in his contract.
This season with the White Sox, Pham has slashed .263/.343/.374 with 4 home runs and 16 RBIs in 190 at bats, and while his stats have cooled off considerably since his impressive first few games in Chicago, he’s remained reliable.
Braves Need to Fill Roster Gaps at Trade Deadline
As of July 3, the Braves are second in the NL East with a record of 46-37, putting them 9.0 games back from the division-leading Philadelphia Phillies (56-29). While a playoff berth is still very much a possibility for Atlanta, there are a number of weaknesses in the team’s roster that urgently need addressing at the trade deadline.
With the injuries of Acuña Jr. and Spencer Strider, who is out for season after undergoing surgery to repair his UCL, the Braves need help in the outfield and starting rotation. The team’s batting lineup could also use a boost, particularly against left-handed pitchers.
Potentially answering two of those three needs, Pham can play multiple outfield positions and hits for power, batting .245 against left-handed pitchers since 2023. He’s also on a one-year, low-cost contract with the White Sox, meaning the Braves can likely secure him as a rental player without sacrificing too much in return.
As The Athletic’s Jim Bowden wrote on June 28, “[Pham has] brought a unique edge to every clubhouse he’s been in and he’s a winning player.”
White Sox Expected to Sell Multiple Players at Deadline
On May 5, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported the White Sox are “expected to trade” multiple players by the deadline, listing Tommy Pham, Erick Fedde, Chris Flexen, Mike Clevinger, Michael Kopech, and Eloy Jimenez as players likely to be moved.
The White Sox are deep in a rebuild, and their historically bad start to the 2024 season proves that. As of July 3, Chicago is last in MLB with a record of 24-63, so in an attempt to plan for future seasons, the team is expected to have a fire sale on any players of value they haven’t already moved.
While Pham is expected to get some attention at the deadline, he’s a very gettable target for the Braves. The slugger has been traded at the deadline in each of the last two years — perhaps it’s about to be three seasons in a row.
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