Pirates somehow punked themselves by overspending on Tommy Pham

As outfield bats were plucked off the free agent market this offseason, one by one, Pittsburgh Pirates fans waited patiently to find out how general manager Ben Cherington and his staff would fill the gaping hole in right field. And for their patience, they were rewarded with... Tommy Pham.

Tommy Pham? Really? Months and months of waiting, and it's Tommy Pham?

Pham, who turns 37 next month, is heading into his 11th MLB season. The Pirates will be the 10th team he has played for in that span, after he played most recently for the St. Louis Cardinals, Chicago White Sox and Kansas City Royals last season. He has a career slash line of .258/. 346/.427 with a .773 OPS and has hit better than .270 just three times, most recently doing so in 2019.

The Pirates inked Pham to a one-year deal worth $4 million. This is the kind of signing teams make when they have an up-and-coming prospect at the position who just needs a little more seasoning in the minors (which, by the way, the Pirates don't have). Nothing about this makes sense; the Pirates have a generational talent leading their pitching staff in Paul Skenes, and this front office has done less than the bare minimum to provide him with any run support. Does this front office even care about winning games?

Pirates somehow punked themselves by overspending on Tommy Pham

Let's review how we got here. Pittsburgh's primary in-house options at right field after last season were Bryan De La Cruz and Connor Joe, neither of whom was tendered a contract offer prior to the November deadline. This was the right move; for a cost-conscious team like the Pirates, that money is better spent elsewhere.

However, if the Pirates were just going to sign Pham, they might as well have kept Joe. Results-wise, their 2024 seasons weren't all that different. Joe, a right-handed hitting corner outfield and first baseman, slashed .238/.330/.396 in 888 plate appearances from 2023-24. His output, like Pham's, has sat almost precisely at the league average. It's hard to argue that this is anything more than a lateral move.

Oh, and Joe was projected to earn a $3.2 million salary in arbitration. So he would have been $800,000 cheaper than Pham. Plus, without Joe, the Pirates also don't have a true backup first baseman behind Spencer Horwitz. So you might even argue that signing Pham makes this team worse.

You know a signing is bad when it has fans begging to have a very average platoon outfielder back. Experience Pirates baseball.

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