Musgrove living out dream with Padres
This story was excerpted from AJ Cassavell's Padres Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.
Sure was a busy Monday for the Padres. They traded for Josh Hader. They continued their pursuit of another blockbuster or two. Wil Myers returned from the IL. And superstar shortstop Fernando Tatis Jr.faced live pitching for the first time since his wrist injury.
But amid all the chaos, we shouldn’t lose sight of one thing: How dang cool is it that Joe Musgrove will be staying in San Diego for the next half-decade?
The Padres ace put pen to paper on a five-year contract on Monday morning before an afternoon press conference at Petco Park. And, no, I'm not talking about Musgrove's impact on the mound. He's obviously taken his game to a different level since he arrived in San Diego via trade 19 months ago. But for me, what's most worth celebrating is the overwhelming success story of a hometown kid.
“When I first came here, just the idea of staying in San Diego was enough for me,” Musgrove said Friday. “Just to play in my hometown, with my family, my friends, get to experience all the things that I dreamed of as a kid and get to live that out.
“The longer I’ve spent here, it’s become more about the people that are in the room and the staff and the growth that I’m making here.”
On top of that, it's fairly clear at this point that Musgrove took a sizeable hometown discount to stay in San Diego. Per sources, his five-year deal is worth $100 million -- a boatload of money, to be sure.
But Musgrove is an ace in his prime. It's very likely he would've made tens of millions more in free agency.
"You don't know how much money's out there," Musgrove said. "Not to leave some on the table, but looking at $100 million -- that's more than enough money to help me live the life I want and to take care of my people, my family.
"You look at all the things you get along with that: Being in San Diego, being with this caliber of a team, being around the people I'm around -- I don't think there's any amount of money that tops that."
Musgrove is already a certifiable hometown hero. Last year, he authored the franchise's first and only no-hitter in its 53 seasons. He posted a 3.18 ERA in his Padres debut season -- and he's been even better this year, reaching the All-Star Game for the first time.
And Musgrove has accomplished all that in spite of all the pressures that come along with pitching in his hometown. As he notes, "It was overwhelming at first."
But Musgrove has handled the pressure of pitching for his childhood favorite team with apparent ease. He's quick to credit his family as his support system. That's true, dating back to his days playing in El Cajon Little League and at Grossmont High School (which currently features a mural of Musgrove that reads, “meant to be”).
"Everyone made sacrifices, top to bottom, my whole family," Musgrove said. "To be able to be here and give a little bit of that back to them, to feel like I'm repaying them in some kind of manner for all the effort and time and money that was spent for me to get here, it’s a really good feeling.
"It's going to be hard to top mom's meals, but we're going to be eating good."