Aug 31, 2024, 03:23 PM ET
With a potential playoff berth in sight, the Kansas City Royals made multiple moves Saturday in the wake of Vinnie Pasquantino‘s injury, adding outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman off waivers and acquiring Yuli Gurriel in a trade.
Both Pham and Grossman participated in last year’s World Series, with Pham on the Arizona Diamondbacks and Grossman on the champion Texas Rangers.
Gurriel, meanwhile, was acquired from the Atlanta Braves on a minor league deal for cash considerations.
Pasquantino broke his thumb earlier this week and is set to miss six to eight weeks.
Pham, 36, was designated for assignment by the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. He batted .206 with two homers and 12 RBIs in 23 games for St. Louis after being acquired from the Chicago White Sox at the trade deadline. He hit .266 with five homers and 19 RBIs in 70 games with the White Sox.
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Pham was in his second tour of duty with St. Louis. He was with the Cardinals from 2014 to ’18 and smacked a career-best 23 homers in 2017.
Pham is a .258 career hitter with 137 homers, 462 RBIs and 125 steals in 1,098 career games over 11 seasons. He also has played for the Tampa Bay Rays (2018-19), San Diego Padres (2020-21), Cincinnati Reds (2022), Boston Red Sox (2022) and New York Mets (2023).
Grossman, 34, was placed on waivers by the Rangers on Thursday and then started for Texas on Friday since he had yet to be claimed. He went 1-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
For his 12-year career, Grossman is hitting .243 with 93 homers and 429 RBIs in 1,197 games with the Houston Astros (2013-15), Minnesota Twins (2016-18), Athletics (2019-20), Detroit Tigers (2021-22), Atlanta Braves (2022), Rangers (2023, ’24) and White Sox.
Grossman appeared in seven postseason games for the Rangers when they won the World Series in 2023.
Gurriel had been on a minor league deal with the Braves and had yet to play in the big leagues this season, which is why he was eligible to be traded after the deadline. The 40-year-old first baseman played his first seven big league seasons with the Astros, then spent last year with the Marlins. He has 12 home runs in 75 games for Atlanta’s Triple-A team this season.
To make room on the 40-man roster for Pham and Grossman, the Royals designated for assignment two players: catcher Austin Nola and third baseman CJ Alexander. Nola, 34, was at Triple-A Omaha, while Alexander, 28, had one hit in eight at-bats for Kansas City this season.
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
