The wait is over. San Diego Padres ace starting pitcher Joe Musgrove has officially inked a five-year, $100 million contract extension with the club. The move was officially announced on Monday, as reported by Jon Heyman of the New York Post.

It was reported a few days ago that Joe Musgrove and the Padres “were close” to the massive contract extension. Now, after months of negotiations that spilled into the All-Star break, the two sides have come to an agreement.

The deal, which will pay Musgrove an average of $20 million per season, places him among the 20 highest-paid starters in the league, right behind Padres teammate Yu Darvish. The 29-year-old hurler is deserving of the contract, having turned himself into an ace in San Diego.

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After breaking out to the tune of career-best 3.18 ERA last year, Musgrove has been even better in 2022, pitching to an 8-4 record with a 2.65 ERA and 114 strikeouts in 115 1/3 innings.

It was especially important for the Padres to get the deal done with Musgrove, who was scheduled to become a free agent this offseason. Now, San Diego has their ace locked in until the 2028 season.

That’s big news for a club that could potentially lose Sean Manaea and Mike Clevinger to free agency. Fellow hurlers Blake Snell and Darvish are only on the books for two more seasons. It was clear that the Padres needed to instill some long-term security into their rotation.

They did that by re-signing the ace of their staff, Joe Musgrove. Now, the former Pirates hurler can completely focus on helping his club make a deep run.