Report: Angels interested in swinging deal for Pirates' Musgrove

The Los Angeles Angels are interested in trading for Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Joe Musgrove, according to Rob Biertempfel and Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.

Pittsburgh, which recently sent slugging first baseman Josh Bell to the Washington Nationals for pitching prospects, is seeing interest in the righty expand after the San Diego Padres acquired starter Blake Snell from the Tampa Bay Rays, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.

The Angels are in need of additional starting pitching depth next to Dylan Bundy, Andrew Heaney, and Griffin Canning, especially if Shohei Ohtani's status as a two-way player remains nebulous.

Musgrove only went 1-5 in 2020 but was forced to pitch in front of an awful Pirates team. He posted a 3.86 ERA with a 1.24 WHIP and a career-best 12.5 K/9 over 39 2/3 innings.

He still has two years of arbitration remaining before hitting free agency after the 2022 campaign.

The 28-year-old is no stranger to being traded. The Pirates acquired him as part of the return from the Houston Astros for ace Gerrit Cole in 2018. Prior to that, he was one of the players whom the Toronto Blue Jays - another team that has recently been linked to Musgrove - sent to Houston in the 2012 J.A. Happ trade.