BREAKING: Pittsburgh Pirates Trade Joe Musgrove to San Diego Padres

For quite some time now the Pittsburgh Pirates trading Joe Musgrove has appeared to be a question of when not if. Well, when has finally arrived.

On Monday evening, the Pittsburgh Pirates traded Musgrove to the San Diego Padres. Musgrove will join a loaded Padres’ starting rotation. The news was first broken on Twitter by ESPN’s Jeff Passan.

The headlining piece of the trade appears to be center field prospect Hudson Head. Head was the 84th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft. FanGraphs ranks Head as San Diego’s 7th best prospect with a future value of 45.

Another prospect that is confirmed to be in the trade is left-handed pitcher Omar Cruz. The 21-year-old Cruz started 12 games combined between the Low-A and High-A levels in 2019. In these 12 starts he posted a 2.73 ERA, 2.28 FIP, 8.2% wlak rate, and a 32.8% strikeout rate in 56 innings pitched.

The other prospect the Pirates are receiving in the trade is right-handed pitcher Drake Fellows. The 22-year-old Fellow has yet to pitch professionally after pitching collegiately with the Vanderbilt Commodores.

In the trade, the Pittsburgh Pirates are also adding righty David Bednar. Odds are Bednar will start the 2021 season in the Pirate bullpen. Bednar remains under team control through the 2025 season.

As the news started to break it was reported that this was a three-team trade also involving the New York Mets. The Mets received Joey Lucchesi from the Padres, sending catching prospect Endy Rodriguez to the Pirates. FanGraphs ranks Rodriguez as the 13th best prospect in the Mets’ farm system with a FV of 40.

Musgrove, a San Diego native who will now get to pitch for his hometown Padres, spent three seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates after arriving as part of the Gerrit Cole trade. In his three seasons with the Bucs, Musgrove pitched to a solid 4.23 ERA, 3.69 FIP, 5.7% walk rate, and a 22.8% strikeout rate in 325.1 innings pitched.

Big Joe quickly became a fan favorite in Pittsburgh for the way he played the game in addition to pitching well. He was also a big part of the Pittsburgh community. We wish Joe all the best in San Diego.