There's one thing that best explains why the White Sox were routed by the Cincinnati Reds and why they're reportedly nearing a deal with Tommy Pham on Sunday. You need look no further than their cleanup hitters in each game this weekend:
The last one isn't actually that bad considering Sheets' hot start, but then you see that Korey Lee was batting fifth, and it hammers the same point home. As long as Luis Robert Jr., Eloy Jiménez and Yoán Moncada are all out of commission, there isn't a heart to this lineup, which is why the White Sox offense is baseball's worst by most meaningful measurements.
That's the micro explanation covering the Ken Rosenthal report that Pham is close to joining the White Sox on a minor-league contract. Pham hit .256/.328/.446 with 46 extra-base hits and 22 stolen bases over 129 games with the Mets and Diamondbacks last year, capped by a strong showing in the World Series. Whether it's because he turned 36 last month, has a history of unusual off-field and on-field incidents, or hasn't performed well in the last three even-numbered years, a minor-league deal with the worst team in baseball two weeks into the season is the best he could do.
Those factors also make it easy to step back and wonder why the White Sox are even bothering with Pham. The biggest hope is that the White Sox are able to deal him at the deadline, similar to the way the Mets were able to flip him to the Diamondbacks for a lottery ticket in 17-year-old infielder Jeremy Rodriguez. But that talk can be tabled until Pham answers a couple other questions, like what kind of tune-up is required and which form he'll resemble if and when he gets to the majors in a White Sox uniform.
From there, there's the question about whose roster spot he'd be taking. That conversation is a fluid one, as most Robbie Grossmen will tell you. It wasn't that long ago that Grossman joined the White Sox on a minor-league contract, then looked blocked when Pillar rejoined the White Sox on a smaller guaranteed deal. Smash-cut to two weeks later, and Grossman is entrenched as the leadoff man while Pillar is batting cleanup against lefties. The latter shouldn't be happening, mind you, but it is.
That said, it's kinda fun to speculate whose spot is most jeopardized by this news, if only because the rate in which the 26-man roster is churning makes it very easy to be very wrong. Maybe Pham needs weeks of preparation and never actually plays for the White Sox, or maybe he's batting fourth for Pedro Grifol by Friday. There's literally no way to tell.
But that won't stop us from trying. Here are five players whose presences Pham can disrupt, in ascending order of spiciness.
No. 5: Kevin Pillar
Pillar is the most obvious candidate as a right-handed platoon bat who is as useful as he is dispensable. The White Sox are his ninth team over the last six years for a reason.
Pillar has already been worked over by Chris Getz once this season, re-signing with the White Sox for $1 million after his original minor-league deal guaranteed him $3 million. Now we turn our attention to Pillar's service time. He needs 82 more days in the majors to reach 10 years of service time, which would be the first week of July. Let the countdown begin.
Pham shouldn't play center field, whereas Pillar can be trusted out there, so that's the chief distinguishing feature in this particular battle.
No. 4: Robbie Grossman
Grossman has reached base 15 times in nine games for the White Sox, so there isn't any reason to currently think that his spot is in jeopardy, but should the walks start to dry up, Grossman could be seen as the most redundant player, because he, too, is better against lefties than righties, and better in left field than in right.
That said, it'd be kinda fun if they shared the same clubhouse if only for the automatic icebreaker: "We just played in the GD World Series. How the hell did we end up here?"
No. 3: Dominic Fletcher
The hits are starting to fall for Fletcher, who's hitting .250/.341/.333. He's also the best everyday center field option as long as Robert's out, and one of the few young(ish) guys on the roster who could feasibly be part of the next good White Sox team. It'd be pointless to trade somebody like Cristian Mena for him if Pham can so easily take his spot, but Fletcher isn't so proven that he can afford to go into a multi-week slide, either.
No. 2: Andrew Vaughn
Vaughn's hitting .185/.267/.222, but that hasn't stopped him from being the only White Sox player who has appeared in all 15 games thus far. He tends to escape scrutiny because of all of the other bigger problems, but there's a scenario where Sheets has staying power and Pham doesn't have an outfield spot because Luis Robert Jr. returned from his hip injury in a timely fashion, and everybody is finally freed up to pay attention to what Vaughn is(n't) doing.
No. 1: Andrew Benintendi
It's easier to envision a scenario where Fletcher and Grossman are playing well enough, Jiménez resumes taking most of the plate appearances at DH, and Benintendi is the one losing the meritocracy battle. Although he's hit the ball a little harder as of late, he's still saddled with a slash line of .145/.203/.164, and his defense remains easy to exploit. Were he still not owed more than $60 million on a contract that runs through 2027, left field would be the first place to look for freeing up playing time. If Benintendi doesn't turn it around in short order, the question is how long the financial obligation can justify the daily lineup decisions.
