Musgrove back in San Diego as part of three-team trade

The Padres nabbed another young, promising pitcher on Monday night when the news broke that Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrove is headed back to his native California in a three-team trade involving seven different players.

The Pirates will be receiving a package of four prospects from the Friars, including outfielder Hudson Head, right-handed pitchers David Bednar and Drake Fellows, and left-hander Drake Fellows.

The Mets are the other team in this deal and they’ll be landing lefty Joey Luchessi from San Diego. Pittsburgh will also be acquiring catcher/outfielder Endy Rodriguez in the trade.

The addition of Musgrove could easily be seen as just another power move being made by the Padres in an attempt to accelerate their journey to the World Series, but at the same time, one has to wonder if they’re continuing to build the bullpen with the expectation that Dinelson Lamet could miss more time than originally expected.

That’s just a thought, however.

This past season, Musgrove was limited to eight starts due to triceps inflammation but finished with a 3.86 ERA with 55 strikeouts and 17 earned runs. To end the regular season, he recorded consecutive starts where he threw for 10+ strikeouts, three hits, and no runs allowed.