The San Diego Padres is continuing a busy off-season negotiating with Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove, according to reports.
Musgrove, a 28-year-old who posted a 3.86 ERA for the humble Pirates in 2020, is heading to San Diego in a three-team exchange that will yield a package of potential customers, including outfielder Hudson Head for the Pirates , reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Meanwhile, Mets will acquire holder Joey Lucchesi from San Diego, Kevin Acee reports from the San Diego Union-Tribune.
The San Diego Padres is in agreement to acquire the right-handed Joe Musgrove from the Pittsburgh Pirates, sources told ESPN.
– Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 18, 2021
Fresh out of an escape campaign, the Fathers have already acquired Blake Snell and Yu Darvish in this off-season to complement their initial rotation.
Musgrove is yet another supporting cast for his star-level talents, but he represents the depth the Fathers will need to compete with the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers. His results tend to be solid rather than excellent, but he had the best elimination rate of 33.1% of his career in 2020, perhaps suggesting a potential break.
As the Fathers continue to stockpile weapons, the deal raises questions about Dinelson Lamet’s health. He had been the rising ace of the 2020 Fathers, but missed the playoffs due to an injury.
For pirates, count this movement as a new branch on the Gerrit Cole trade tree. Musgrove spent three seasons in Pittsburgh after coming into the business that saw Cole make his transformative move to Houston Astros.
Head, the top candidate to return to Pirates, is a 19-year-old central field candidate, which MLB Pipeline ranked seventh in a loaded San Diego system. Athletic’s Dennis Lin informs that left-handed pitcher Omar Cruz is also going to Pirates. They are also getting the Endy Rodriguez prospect, the Mets’ 14th prospect, with New York hiring Lucchesi as a rotation option.
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