Giants southpaw Madison Bumgarner discussed his future with the organization in a chat with Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle. It’s certainly well worth a full read.
Bumgarner, 29, says that the club has yet to reach out regarding a possible contract extension. As things stand, he indicated, he’s not sure what the team’s intentions are as it prepares for an offseason of uncertainty.
Of course, it’s certain that Bumgarner’s 2019 option will be exercised. But it’s at least possible to imagine the San Francisco club seeking offers after picking it up at a bargain $12MM rate. Despite some areas of concern that have arisen this year for the big lefty, there’d be plenty of demand for his services if he was made available.
Bumgarner says he hasn’t entertained the thought that his time with the Giants could conceivably be nearing an end, explaining that he’s “a one-day-at-a-time kind of guy.” Of course, he did also say that he’d “like to be [in San Francisco] my whole career,” so it seems fair to assume that Bumgarner isn’t exactly itching for a change of scenery.
Certainly, it’d be interesting to see how talks might progress if the Giants open negotiations with the southpaw’s reps at The Legacy Agency. His outstanding track record speaks for itself, of course. He’s a premium regular season performer and postseason legend.
Despite the obvious positives, Bumgarner has shown some cracks. He has missed significant time in each of the past two seasons, breaking a string of six-straight 200-inning campaigns. He also hasn’t been as dominant when on the hill. This year, for instance, Bumgarner has a 3.14 ERA but is averaging only 7.5 K/9 and surrendering a career-high 3.1 BB/9.
The future is uncertain to an extent not previously seen for one of the game’s preeminent workhorses. Estimators value Bumgarner as a low-4.00 ERA hurler. He’s allowing far more hard contact (40.1%) than ever before, while posting declines in swinging-strike rate (9.5%) and average fastball velocity (90.8 mph). That he has nevertheless succeeded is a credit to Bumgarner, to be sure, but sustainability remains in question.
As Schulman explains, there are a host of variables at play. Though Bumgarner says he doesn’t expect to command a premium for the excess value he provided under his early-career extension, he does note that “guys are looking to get paid what they think they’re worth compared to the market and how other players are getting paid.” What that might be in this case, and whether the Giants are positioned to make that sort of deal, is open to debate — and negotiation.
Here’s what the Giants need to do this offseason: trade Bumgarner to the highest bidder, let Blanco and Sandoval go and stop living off of past glory!
Only trade him if an extension isn’t possible, and the offer is good. Otherwise keep the face of the franchise and let him retire where he wants.
He’s a future HOF candidate, and a huge draw in San Fran.
Hope the Giants hit on that draft pick they get for him next year then.
Next year? You must mean 2020, since Bumgarner would, in that case, be pitching for the Giants next year on the $12M option.
Not necessarily. If he signs the extensión he’d be a bargain for a club looking to win next year, like the Yankees who need to replace CC as their Ace.
He’s not on the same HOF trajectory that may have been obvious 2 years ago. He’s lost two prime seasons and he’s loosing some of his FB.
Sandoval had value as a utility guy this season until the injury, They can have him for one more year at the league minimum. It would be silly for them to cut him loose just for the symbolism of turning the page.
0.1 WAR this year. Think they’d be better off giving that roster spot to someone with a little more upside.
Like who? Plus you’re undervaluing his pinch hitting. Only Alen Hanson did better in that role for the Giants, but he’s a 2B, As a 3B Sandoval had the 2nd highest OPS in MLB as a pinch hitter with at least 20 ABs, where he slashed .286/.333/.500. When there are so many other areas for the Giants to address, it would be stupid, to replace Sandoval when they have him for the league minimum.
True dat
Whole team terrible
Disgusting team
Sandoval is actually a solid player. .814 OPS batting left handed this season.
“0.1 WAR this year”
There’s more to look at than just WAR.
Yeah….his waistline
#gotheeeeeeeeem
Unlike the foolish Red Sox, the Giants have Sandoval on a weight regimen. If he goes off it he doesn’t play, or is released, and at the league minimum the Giants aren’t heavily invested.
Batting right handed lower his WAR. Giants need to convert him to a full time lefty in order to be a 100% productive player again. Until then, he’s a solid LHB that can fill in when Belt breaks his ankle walking up the stairs.
When Belt gets a concussion answering the phone
When Belt gets a paper cut looking through the phone book. Yeah I’m old.
“Unlike the foolish Red Sox, the Giants have Sandoval on a weight regimen”.
Yeah, he looks so slim these days… maybe the Giants can give Jenny Craig some pointers.
lolol
Instead of looking to see if he looks fatter, thinner, or the same, maybe look at what he did statistically for the Giants since his return, and what he did for the Sox.
“The Giants aren’t heavily invested”, that’s a solid comment.
Too late
Belt is a joke
…but Bumgarner is the only good contract on the books.. Everyone else is overpaid..
What they need to do is call up Rick, go back in time.. Not sign Smardzija, Cueto, Melancon, also dont make the Longoria trade.. Then theyll be in perfect position to either add or rebuild 🙂
There’s no link to the article.
Just added it. Thanks.
Thanks Jeff!
Mad-Bum for Swihart….who says no?……
Red Sox. Giants need to throw in Posey and maybe even Crawford or Belt to get Swihart.
Thats still a little light. If the ink Sandoval to a long term deal and include him in the deal, maaaaaaybe we can swap for swihart.
Red Sox definitely. Swihart is a god, loads of P O T E N T I A L
I believe the Braves will go after him hard. Best fit for both parties – checks off all the boxes Atlanta needs in the SP dept and Braves meet all the needs of the Giants in personnel.
What might the Braves offer for a year of MadBum?
Dansby Swanson
Swanson wouldn’t make sense for them. Something around Austin Riley, Gohara/Allard and another piece should be good for both sides
Giants are probably better off picking up the option and then dealing him. The question is when for maximum return. Offseason and they send it with the possibility of a QO, in season maybe they are able to get more to a competitive pitching-needing team closer to deadline. But it’s hard to see how he stays a Giant beyond this year if his price is too high for them. Terrific pitcher, but quite possibly past his peak.
If the giants were to trade MadBum I think the best target would be the Angels for a package around Jo Adell. The Angels need pitching and with Trout have to up their game before they lose him and their window shuts. Seems like the best fit to me, that is IF they trade him. Any other ideas?
…makes a lot of sense, in a lot of ways. (west coast thing, etc.)…..
Just the other way around, the Angels need to trade Trout…
Atlanta makes sense for MadBum, so does LAA, so does Milwaukee. Any team that is an ace away from being legit basically.
This also supports San Francisco’s notion of never “blowing it up” completely, but re-patching and re-tooling.
The bullpen has useful pieces. Rodriguez is a keeper in the rotation and Suarez has looked really good at times.
If MadBum can fetch a return of:
Atlanta- Kyle Wright, Christian Pasche and Max Fried.
Or
Milwaukee- Freddy Peralta, Domingo Santana and Corbin Burnes.
These teams have the depth to risk on a proven commodity like Bumgarner. If you don’t have a horse like this, you usually don’t survive past September.
the giants should trade bum but there is almost no chance that they do. thats not how this ownership and front office operates. but if we want to hypothetically discuss a trade then it wouldnt be for prospects it would be for major league ready players or young players already in the majors. nothing below AAA essentially. the giants front office will try to put a major league ready roster on the field every single year so you can forget about any trade that involves low minor league prospects. so for example bumgarner for yelich or bumgarner for ozzie albies. cant really see a deal with the angels ever working with their current roster
Zero chance the Giants get that return from the Braves for one year of Bumgarner. Both Wright and Pache are Top 50 prospects in MLB. Might get one, but not two.
I doubt he goes to an AL side because he loves to swing the bat, although money talks(to some people in this world) I suppose.
The Giants won’t compete for a few years, best they get a load prospects now and try and unload what they can. It’s going to be a very lean few years in SF.
Isn’t it an even year? Asking for a friend.
It is.
In Oakland.
As in: are the A’s even going to get out of the first round of the playoffs?
Hope the giants do what the Yankees did. Trade Bumgarner for a kings ransom, and sign him back once his contract is up.
Would be a smart idea if they had any shot of contending during the remainder of Bumgarner’s prime. But they won’t so really all they’d be doing is paying $25m a year to hurt their draft position.
Bumgarner to the Cardinals for Alex Reyes (SP) and Carson Kelly (C).
No, Kelly, Hudson, and Garcia
That can work too. I assume you mean Adolis Garcia? The Giants do need young cost controlled OFers.
Yep but I just remembered the giants drafted Bart so Kelly might now work
Not*. Sorry
Why would you trade a young controllable arm who if he stays healthy is an ace and one of the top catching prospects in the game for an older expensive arm who if he stays healthy is an ace? Reyes is ready to pitch in the majors, so it ends up downgrading your starting pitching for the next three + years and throws away a top prospect
Because Reyes hasn’t shown any ability to stay healthy while both of Bumgarner’s injuries in his entire Major League career have been from freak accidents. Giants probably aren’t interested in Kelly tho considering he plays the same position as their best prospect.
Two years ago, I would have never said move Reyes anywhere, but now he has had two major injuries. You just don`t know what you are going to get. You may be right on them not needing Kelly, but Bart is still a year or two away probably. If not Kelly, then go with Hudson, Weaver, and Adolis Garcia.
But did you see how Reyes preformed after TJ? I’m not worried about his performance I’m just worried how long he would stay healthy.
Him staying healthy is a very real concern. As a Padres fan Reyes gives me major shades of Cory Luebke
The Giants will not want Kelly! They are going to keep Posey behind the plate as long as possible, or until Bart is ready!
As for Reyes, the Giants would take him, but not as the headliner. Coming off 2 major surgeries is too big of a risk to be the headliner for MadBum!!
Wow Jeff, kind of an incomplete/misleading statement to imply that he’s breaking down (“has missed considerable time over past two seasons …”), don’t you think? Remember he’s missed time due to 2 freak injuries – dirt bike accident and batted ball breaking bone in finger during spring training. Oh that’s right, stat geeks just look at the numbers and don’t waste time actually watching the game.
The dirt bike accident wasn’t a freak accident. It was him being a fool.
You totally missed the point, There are 2 types of injuries, freak injuries, like being hit by a pitch, and chronic issues, like a bad back. Sure Bumgarner was foolish, but the injury was not the chronic condition that would define an injury as not being freak.
@ Giantbill. Missing 20+ starts over the span of two seasons does constitute as missing significant time, regardless of how the injury occurred.
Whatever you inferred is not what Jeff implied.
The way the injuries occurred does suggest that Bumgarner is not any more likely than any other pitcher to spend time in the DL in the future.
Which should be the main point about missing time on the field.
Doesn’t matter how he lost the time genius, the main point is he did. Plus he already was giving up a lot of HR. Now with his FB down, you do the math. His best years are past him.
The Giants would do themselves a bunch of good here not to sign him to an extension and get Zito’d. Trade him if you can his trajectory is downward from here on out.
Actually, getting zito’d would be signing Kershaw and having him break down.
Royalty is good, but how about money? Kershaw is getting 35.5MM/y, Greinke is getting 34MM/y, It cost way toooo much for the MadBum’s royalty.
If everything else fails, Bumgarner could still make a run at a motocross career. Riders like Dutch world champion Jeffrey Herlings or Belgian veteran Ken De Dycker prove that tall guys can succeed in dirt bike racing.
Apparently, he isn’t very good at it. He should stick to snot rockets.
Andujar for Bumgarner who says no?
He WILL be a Yankee!
Count on it you stat freakazoids!!
Dear Cashman, His (^) opinions are not reflective of the rest of us Yankee fans. We’ve already had to watch one broken down left hander pitch in 2018.
Signed,
The rest of us non-deluded Yankee fans
Giants, until the Yankees add a bit more. Andujar is a butcher in the field
……..YANKEES!!………..
I don’t care much for the fellow
Madison’s #1 contract request: must be able to ride dirt bike ramps in the off season.
Then Bauer can teach him how to crash drones
Yanks sign Machado
Yanks trade Andujar, Sheffield & C. Frazier for MadBum with him signing extension
Bad trade. Sad!
You completely leave out the part where MadBum has to actually AGREE to any extension. And if he were actually willing to do that the Giants wouldn’t consider trading him for even a picosecond.
Sounds fantastic trade three cost controlled prospects for a SP whose best years are clearly in the distance in the rear view mirror. If even only one of them pan out this is a great non deal.
When was the last time we heard a player say, “I don’t want to be here anymore.” Ever?
Agreed, but the conversation has gone two ways in the past.
One is the way Bumgarner did it, he said he doesn’t want to go anywhere else. No way to misinterpret that, especially from a straight shooter like he is.
The other is saying that he loves playing there, but he wants to be a free agent and see what he can get, and tells the fans, don’t worry (like David Bell did when he opted out from the Giants, then signed with the Phillies; I’m still amazed that they re-hired him, I guess the owners and management don’t hold a grudge forever). Or they demur in some way (“well, we’ll see what happens after season, I don’t like talking contract before the end of the season”) while saying some platitude about how great it is to play on the team or for the city. Or, “I leave that stuff to my agent, I don’t like to talk shop during the season, that’s what’s he’s paid for”, plus some platitudes/cliches.
My favorite is “It’s out of my control.” Unless the team doesn’t want them back (which it’s known that SF does with MadBum) it’s completely in their control.
These are all stock answers and consequently mean nothing at all really. Every player understands they going to be on any given team until they are traded or get a better offer. Nobody burns any bridges before they come to them.
Reminds me of when a player is asked how they hit a certain home run. You know it’s going to be “I was just looking for something I could drive and fortunately I got one.” I think they carry a card around in their pockets so they aren’t tempted to say anything more revealing.
Yeah, they’ve got to be heavily coached by the PR department when they arrive in the bigs. Bad things happen to players who go off script.
Not surprised about bell, considering that pablo is on the team and Wilson has come back a bunch.
If Colletti had any decision making with the Dodgers, Bumgarner would be a Dodger this offseason.
Wilson, Velez, Uribe (worked out okay), are a few I can remember
You on something? MadBum will NEVER be a dodger.
Schmidt was a pretty good snag on his part. Surkamp, for a much lesser known name. Culberson?
Plus, a lot of Giants DFA’s have ended up passing through LA, it seemed, both the Dodgers and Pirates seem to battle over who the Giants DFA.
Vogelsong famously was offered a contract by Colletti, but then asked the Giants to give him the same offer, so that he won’t have to wear Dodger Blue. I particularly liked that one. But that only made up for the fact that they offered Huff a big contract and the Giants had to beat it, I wonder how Huff would have handled being a Dodger.
All Dodger and Giants fans are into the rivalry, but seriously, it still ain’t a religion.
The article fails to mention that Bumgarner has also lost significant velocity on his snot rockets since 2015 which may account for the Giants’ hesitation to offer him an extension.
Well fun while it lasted