Diamondbacks' Tommy Pham again questions Mets' drive, desire

Outfielder Tommy Pham will play in this year's World Series after he joined the Arizona Diamondbacks from the New York Mets ahead of the summer trade deadline and once again seemed to criticize the culture that hovered over his former club throughout the season. 

"The drive wasn’t there [with the Mets]," Pham told reporters on Thursday, per Greg Joyce of the New York Post. "That drive is here [with the Diamondbacks]. That’s what separates this team from most teams. You have guys that are still trying to get better every day. You have teammates trying to help you out. And that’s dangerous."

Tim Britton and Will Sammon of The Athletic raised eyebrows when they reported last month that Pham previously revealed to star shortstop Francisco Lindor that the 2023 Mets, responsible for baseball's most expensive squad, had "the least-hardest working group of position players I’ve ever played with." 

Pham also noted in September that he'd "never seen a lot of guys struggle all at once" as what happened with the Mets before their pre-trade deadline fire sale. 

The Mets ultimately parted ways with manager Buck Showalter ahead of their season finale and finished the campaign at 75-87. 

"That team [the Mets] is more talented than this team [the Diamondbacks]," Pham directly acknowledged on Thursday. "Let’s be honest here. But what makes this team different is everyone is still at this level trying to reach their max potential. My max potential now might be average everyday player. I’m still trying to play like '17, '18, '19. That’s what keeps driving me. I’m trying to prove I still got that in me."

New Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns could soon hire current Milwaukee Brewers manager Craig Counsell to replace Showalter. Counsell guided the Brewers to the playoffs five times over the past six years.

Pham believes the combination of Stearns and big-spending owner Steve Cohen will help the Mets turn things around. 

"There’s guys over there that are hungry," Pham added about the Amazins. "You have an owner that cares about winning." 

Splashing cash to buy players this offseason may not be enough for that owner to fix all that ailed the Mets in 2023.