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Report: Padres trade for Pirates' Joe Musgrove, continue radical rotation makeover

The San Diego Padres are continuing a busy offseason by dealing for Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Joe Musgrove, per reports.

Musgrove, a 28-year-old who posted a 3.86 ERA for the lowly Pirates in 2020, is headed to San Diego in a three-team trade that will net a package of prospects including outfielder Hudson Head for the Pirates, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports. Meanwhile, the Mets will acquire left-handed starter Joey Lucchesi from San Diego, the San Diego Union-Tribune’s Kevin Acee reports.

Fresh off a breakout campaign, the Padres have already acquired Blake Snell and Yu Darvish this offseason to supplement their starting rotation.

Joe Musgrove is reportedly joining the San Diego Padres' new-look rotation.
Joe Musgrove is reportedly joining the San Diego Padres' new-look rotation. (AP Photo/Ron Schwane)

Musgrove is more supporting cast to their star-level talents, but he represents depth the Padres will need to compete with the vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers. His results have tended to be solid rather than excellent, but he did post a career-best 33.1 percent strikeout rate in 2020, perhaps hinting at breakout potential.

As the Padres continue to stock up on arms, the deal does raise questions about the health of Dinelson Lamet. He had been the rising ace of the 2020 Padres but missed the playoffs with an injury.

For the Pirates, count this move as a new branch in the Gerrit Cole trade tree. Musgrove spent three seasons in Pittsburgh after coming over in the deal that saw Cole make his transformative move to the Houston Astros.

Head, the top prospect headed back to the Pirates, is a highly touted 19-year-old center field prospect who MLB Pipeline ranked seventh in a loaded San Diego system. The Athletic’s Dennis Lin reports left-handed pitcher Omar Cruz is also headed to the Pirates. They are also reportedly receiving prospect Endy Rodriguez, the No. 14 Mets prospect, as New York lands Lucchesi as a rotation option.

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