With a possible playoff spot in sight, the Kansas City Royals made several moves on Saturday following Vinnie Pasquantino’s injury: They signed outfielders Tommy Pham and Robbie Grossman from the waivers list and acquired Yuli Gurriel in a trade.
Both Pham and Grossman played in last year’s World Series, Pham with the Arizona Diamondbacks and Grossman with the champion Texas Rangers.
Meanwhile, Gurriel was acquired by the Atlanta Braves on a minor league contract for a cash sum.
Pasquantino broke his thumb earlier this week and is expected to be out for six to eight weeks.
Pham, 36, was designated for assignment by the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday. He batted .206 with two home runs and 12 RBIs in 23 games for St. Louis after being acquired at the trade deadline from the Chicago White Sox. He batted .266 with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 70 games with the White Sox.
Pham was playing for St. Louis for the second time. He played for the Cardinals from 2014 to 2018 and hit a personal record of 23 home runs in 2017.
Pham is a career .258 hitter with 137 home runs, 462 RBIs and 125 steals in 1,098 career games over 11 seasons. He has also 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 started for Texas on Friday because he had not yet been claimed, going 1-for-3 in a 9-2 loss to the Oakland Athletics.
In his 12-year career, Grossman has a .243 batting average with 93 home runs 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 as they won the 2023 World Series.
Gurriel was on a minor league contract with the Braves and had not played in the major leagues this season, making him eligible for trade at the deadline. The 40-year-old first baseman played his first seven major league seasons with the Astros and spent last year with the Marlins. He hit 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 two players for assignment: catcher Austin Nola and third baseman CJ Alexander. Nola, 34, played 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.
