The Minnesota Twins missed out on a minor-league trade candidate.
The Minnesota Twins have potentially lost center fielder Byron Buxton for the rest of the regular season. Buxton was sent to the injured list for a third time due to a right hip issue that has bothered him since May, and the Twins have also acknowledged he may need surgery this offseason to fully get back to 100%.
However, the Twins are still battling to make the playoffs and while it is impossible to fully replace Buxton's impact, they still needed to address the void in the outfield. It appeared they tried to do exactly that on Monday but ultimately missed out.
"Tommy Pham is being acquired by White Sox. Twins and Rangers are among others that showed interest," reported Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
While the MLB trade deadline has passed, minor league players not on 40-man rosters are still available via the trade market, and because Pham was in the minor league system with the Philadelphia Phillies he was available.
However, the deadline for these kinds of moves is August 31 before active rosters expand from 26 to 28, making the window extremely tight.
The Twins' interest in Pham made plenty of sense. Their outfield lacks depth right now and carries too many left-handed bats, making a right-handed platoon option like Pham a good fit.
Adding a player with 13 years of big-league experience to a relatively young roster could also have provided valuable veteran leadership and postseason awareness at an important point in the season. Both factors combined made Pham a logical low-risk target for what Minnesota needed heading into September.
Pham has not found much success recently, but his track record over a long career is precisely why he generated widespread interest from multiple teams and why Chicago ultimately moved quickly enough to win the race.
Without Pham, the Twins will have to manage with their current outfield configuration of predominantly left-handed bats. This also likely means top prospect Walker Jenkins will have a more permanent everyday spot going forward.
The 21-year-old was called up last week and has started their last four games in center field hitting ninth in the order. During Monday's win over the Detroit Tigers, Jenkins collected the first home run of his big-league career, a promising early sign for a player the organization is counting on heavily as they push toward October and plan for the future beyond this season.
