The San Diego Padres are aware that teams no longer want their starting pitchers, and they are happy to accept them.
Mike Clevinger. Blake Snell. Yu Darvish. And now Joe Musgrove:
The trade for Musgrove is pending medical reviews, per sources, and will be sending a large package of prospects back to the Pirates. Hudson Head, a well-regarded center fielder, is expected to be among the group heading to Pittsburgh.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 18, 2021
Set aside for the moment that this seems to not bode well for the health of Dinelson Lamet’s elbow, and instead focus on the Padres just picking up another quality controllable starting pitcher. Oh, and also the fact that the Pirates might get a better on-paper package here than the Cubs did for Yu Darvish. (Nah, not possible, right?)
Musgrove, 28, has been sneaky, quiet good for the last few years, and has long been a thorn in the Cubs’ side. The Padres will get him for two years.
Meanwhile, the NL Central’s march toward gleeful oblivion continues, with the already-terrible-Pirates now getting much worse. They have a legit shot at being the worst MLB team in decades. In turn, thanks to the unbalanced schedule, that means the also-quite-bad-but-good-God-not-THAT-bad NL Central teams will have an opportunity to pick up some disproportionate wins for Wild Card race purposes.
… as if that will matter.
UPDATE: Apparently it’s a three-team deal involving the Mets, who are getting Joey Lucchesi out of this mix:
It's a six-player deal, per a source. Musgrove lands in SD, his hometown. Joey Lucchesi, Hudson Head, Drake Fellows, Omar Cruz and one more prospect are going back to Pittsburgh.
— AJ Cassavell (@AJCassavell) January 18, 2021
I’m not sure the Pirates didn’t, indeed, get a better package back for two years of Musgrove than the Cubs got for three years of Darvish (albeit much older and much more expensive, but … still … ).