Yankees' latest trade proves Tommy Pham's surging value rising even higher for Pirates

The Adam Frazier trade is still the only deal Ben Cherington has finalized, with 30 hours to go until the MLB trade deadline. The market is getting extremely interesting now, for the Pirates in particular. The Yankees just acquired Austin Slater from the White Sox in exchange for their 18th-ranked prospect Gage Ziehl.

With Tommy Pham becoming one of the hottest hitters in baseball in recent weeks, the return in any Pham deal could be better than initially expected for Pittsburgh. Pham is quite comparable to Slater, a league-average hitter with decent defense on an expiring contract. Their roles are a little different, though. Slater is more of a platoon guy who'll only play against left-handed pitching, while Pham has reverse splits and is better versus right-handers.

Pirates' Tommy Pham return could look similar to what the Yankees gave up for Austin Slater following recent heater.

Pham is looking like an immediate impact bat to any lineup in need, given the surge he has been on. In July, Pham is batting .388 with two home runs, four doubles, and nine RBI. He also has an extremely low 12.2% strikeout rate this month. It hasn't just been July where Pham has found fire at the plate. In June, he batted .302, and in May, he mashed .293.

Although the power output has not been great this season, Pham has still generated a .721 OPS, stemming from a .380 slugging and .342 on-base. His wRC+ is up to the league average of 100 and his batting average of .273 is the highest in his career since 2019.

Slater has posted a 99 wRC+ with a .721 OPS, but has played in 26 fewer games than Pham. One major difference between the two is Pham has generated six DRS, while Slater has just one. Pham has had a great glove in left field this season.

So since Pham has emerged as one of the better rental bats on the market and Slater landed Chicago the Yankees' 18th prospect, what could the Pirates' return look like? The Padres have been after an outfielder and have a history with Pham, so maybe they link up again with Pittsburgh walking away with Tyson Neighbors, San Diego's 16th ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline (24th per FanGraphs). The right handed reliever in Double-A would be a solid add for Pham.