Checking in on the Tommy Pham trade

Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty ImagesTommy Pham has not had a fortunate start to the 2020 season. After a slow Summer Camp due to a COVID-19 positive result, Pham hit the ground running by swiping a ton of bags at the start of play, but since that hot start, Pham has been dealing with a fractured hamate bone, an injury that saps power from hitters and is far more difficult to play through than the hand injury that hampered what was the Rays most talented hitter on the 2019 squad.

Of course, the Rays did not trade Pham just due to injury concerns. The left fielder and team leader was ready to earn something like $20 million over the projected 2020 and 2021 seasons, and the Rays believed…