The San Diego Padres could soon face quite a dilemma regarding the long-term future of Joe Musgrove with the team.

USA Today Sports’ Bob Nightengale recently touched on Musgrove’s contract status with the Padres, which comes as the seventh-year pitcher is set to hit free agency later this year.

Nightengale noted that Musgrove and the Padres are currently at a “standstill” in extension talks. At the least, there is mutual interest between the two sides in seeing such a deal come to fruition. The Padres “definitely” want to have Musgrove remain on the roster, while the right-handed pitcher “badly wants to stay” with his hometown team.

Earlier in the year, the Padres reportedly made a push to keep Musgrove past the ongoing campaign. The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal recently noted that San Diego placed an eight-year deal in the range of $11 million per season on the table for him ahead of the campaign, but he opted to not put pen to paper on the offer.

The Padres do not have to wait until the end of the season to once again jump-start extension talks with Musgrove, as he did note before the start of the campaign that if the team has an “enticing offer” for him, he would then be open to discussing the possibility of reaching an agreement on a deal.

Musgrove has so far logged 14 starts in the 2022 season, where he has posted a career-best 2.25 ERA to go along with 92 strikeouts recorded in 92.0 innings pitched.