Orioles betting on former Mets castoff to spark needed turnaround

The Baltimore Orioles added a familiar name to their organization, signing Tommy Pham to a minor league contract this morning. If Pham appears in a major league game with the Orioles this season they will be his 11th team in his 13-year career. Pham started the season with the New York Mets, his second stint with the team, but was DFA'd after going hitless in his first nine games with the club. The Orioles bringing him in after having to put Dylan Beavers on IL doesn't feel like a coincidence, and it seems likely that even though this is a minor league contract, Pham will soon find his way up to the big leagues.

As far as what can be expected from Pham, he has been a slightly below league-average bat for about five years now. Last year with the Pirates, he slashed .245/.330/.370 across 120 games, good for a wRC+ of 94. That may not sound like inspiring production, but compared to what the Orioles are getting from half their major league outfielders, that would be an upgrade at the plate. If Pham can play anything like how he's played over the last five years, he'd immediately be the Orioles' third-best outfielder with Beavers on IL.

Adding Tommy Pham is a low-risk-low-reward move

Pham is perhaps more known for some of his non-baseball antics over the last few years. Whether that's slapping a former teammate over a fantasy football dispute, starting bench-clearing incidents over seemingly innocuous looks from the opposing team, or getting suspended for making inappropriate gestures towards fans, trouble seems to follow Tommy Pham from team to team. This past offseason, Pham made some headlines by loudly decrying certain advanced stats that many teams and much of the media rely on to evaluate players.

To his credit, Pham has had teammates consistently praise his work ethic, and the distinct edge he plays with is something that this Orioles team has been missing for the past few seasons, as they've allowed the players who survived the tank years to walk out the door and be replaced by highly drafted top prospects. One of Brandon Hyde's last messages to the team before being fired was to tell them the league thought they were soft.

Pham is many things, but soft is not one of them. Pham won't be afraid to call out any perceived laziness or corner-cutting that he sees happening in Baltimore. For so many of these young Orioles players who have only been taught to play by one coaching staff and had very little veteran guidance, Pham's old-school approach will be a distinct change of pace, and it wouldn't be the worst thing if some of these struggling prospects tried something new.

The Orioles' addition of Pham after their disappointing start to the season, while they sit at 20-25, gives off a faint odor of desperation. This Orioles clubhouse is known for getting along, and Pham's confrontational approach could be disastrous, but with this being a minor league contract, it's more like a rare, low-risk, low-reward move. If it works, great; there will be a bunch of stories about how Pham galvanized the team. If it doesn't, he can be swiftly cut, and they won't have to worry about him anymore.

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