Pittsburgh Pirates: Revisiting the Joe Musgrove Trade

In the last calendar year the Pittsburgh Pirates have made two trades with the San Diego Padres, 10 months later we review the first of these two trades

On January 19th the Pittsburgh Pirates swung a three-team, six-layer trade. This trade saw the Pirates send right-handed starting pitcher Joe Musgrove to the San Diego Padres. In this trade the Padres sent lefty Joey Lucchesi to the New York Mets, which got led to another prospect being traded to the Pirates.

In the trade the Pittsburgh Pirates received for players in return for Musgorve. From the Padres the Pirates received right-handed reliever David Bednar, left-handed pitching prospect Omar Cruz and outfield prospect Hudson Head. The Mets sent catching prospect Endy Rodriguez to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of the deal.

The highest rated of these four players was Head, who was viewed as the headliner in the trade. Rodriguez was viewed as the prospect who be the catcher of the future for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bednar was the lone MLB ready piece acquired, and Cruz was viewed as a pitcher who could be a middle-to-back of the rotation arm down the road.

Following their first season in the Pirate organization has anything changed on the long-term outlook for these four players? How did their first year in the organization go? With the trade having been made 10 months ago this past Tuesday, let’s attempt to look back on a review the trade that saw the Pittsburgh Pirates send Musgrove to the West Coast.