The Giants “remain engaged” on franchise legend Madison Bumgarner, according to the last check of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Henry Schulman (link). Obviously, the word “engaged” can be taken to mean any number of things–ranging from casual contact to protracted negotiation. It is notable, though, that Bumgarner’s longtime team apparently hasn’t been scared off by the increasing amount of competition for his services.
Since November, we’ve heard the Twins, Padres, Dodgers, Reds, White Sox, Diamondbacks, and Cardinals all linked to the lefthander to varying degrees. It became clear that MadBum’s reps were seeking something in excess of $100MM after they apparently passed on a reported $70MM-plus offer from Arizona earlier this offseason. Recent ceiling-raising deals for Stephen Strasburg and Gerrit Cole have likely only helped position such a nine-figure contract as a probable outcome.
More Saturday notes from around the NL…
- Add Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer to those critical of proposed changes from Rob Manfred and the league office. Well, perhaps “critical” doesn’t exactly do Bauer’s Saturday comments justice–perhaps “scorched earth” would be a better descriptor? “At least Rob Manfred is trying to ruin baseball at all levels and isn’t discriminating,” Bauer said on Twitter today. “Something to be said for consistency, I guess.” Bauer then asked followers what their “most hated Rob Manfred idea” was, before following up with a second tweet that characterized Manfred’s proposed changes as a “money grab”. While players should be entitled to their own opinions, it rates as newsworthy to see a public-facing employee criticize a central administrative office so, well, publicly. Whether other players share Bauer’s enmity toward proposed changes–which center around minor league contraction–is an open question.
- Although it still remains to be seen if his club will make a front-end addition to its pitching staff, Padres GM AJ Preller certainly feels like their Drew Pomeranz addition will help make its bullpen one of MLB’s best. “I think the way Drew pitched at the end of last season, what Kirby’s done the last three years and especially last year, we feel really good about the back part of our bullpen,” Preller said of pairing Pomeranz with closer Kirby Yates, as quoted in an article from Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe. Interestingly, Preller also made some comments that, if we’re inclined to close reading, could be seen as something of a statement on Yates’ future with the club. “If that ends up being something that plays out for us over the course of Drew’s four years, and we have lights out back of the bullpen, that would be ideal, honestly,” Preller said. Yates only has one year of control remaining, and extension talks have seemed rather touch-and-go to this point. Preller didn’t mention the Hawaiian by name in the last part of that quote, and his use of the word “ideal” should also be noted; still, it does give some indication of how the team’s top baseball operations mind envisions the club’s pen in future seasons. Jeff Sanders of the Union-Tribune relayed that the club plans to resume contract talks with Yates after, in Preller’s words, the club gets “a better sense of where we’re at payroll wise, where we’re at roster wise” over the next few weeks.
Bauer definitely hit the nail on the head
Now if he could only learn how to pitch consistently.
Please Hahn, sign Bumgarner. Come on, you can do it.
I bet the CWS are ‘runner up’ again. Whaddya think tycobb? They excel at being ‘runner up’ when it comes to player acquisition.
Their management just has that knack. They have it down to perfection.
No need, maybe he should just retire now and take over Tony Clarks job. Certainly couldn’t do worse
Agree on both points DTD and Vandals. As for MadBaum, I’m not sure the recent big money deals improve his deal. He has the reputation of a Cole or a Strasberg but doesn’t seem to have that big time arm left. Forget age, he’s in the David Price and Avon Lester category and what would they get today if either were on the open market?
Jon Lester.
No way I’m committing 100mil to MadBum. If he wants to take a one year deal and show he’s the MadBum that was so dominant in the Giants World Series runs then maybe I’d fork over that kind of deal
Five years for Mad Bum is too long he’ll be good for two yrs. then what? The Dbacks eat the last three years. Yes it was a surprise he signed with the Backs just another competitor in our division, AJ what are you doing? If you think the SP’s we have now are going to be competitive outside of maybe two of them you need to fire yourself. So far 75-87 for 2020.
Well it is a contract year!
Im all for players bring it to power, but holy cow is Bauer an ignorant loudmouth.
This whole minor league debacle is not a money grab, its an outgrowth of weeds that should have been dealt with in the 70s. We are using the odd system of development that we started with in teh 50s. All the teams theyre proposing getting rid of cant support theselves. It would be one thing to move them to places and markets that could, but mnwy grab it is not.
Manfred suffers from an arrogance that Selig had, but was never open about. milb + MLB should be using this oppurtunity to promote a modern development system that benifits the players and potentially creates a more interesting fan experience. Instead theyre letting the story be about contraction. Its a failure of messaging strategy more than one of system.
do you know that a lot of billionaires buy portions of minor league teams? they are real money makers having players and coaches paid by mlb teams. that’s what the mlb owners want without really buying them.
Vizion, the point is the relationship has survived and thrived in many locations for generations. “My own” team, Boston has owners as greedy as there is. To move their AAA franchise next in 2021 from Pawtucket to Wooster is as disgusting of a money grab as there is. Their building a new stadium and likely will charge more. Pawtucket and the Red Sox have been together since at least the early 70s. I don’t know if the city was home to a lower league before then. The move from Louisville made sense geographically but this move will certainly impact Pawtucket. Besides losing a fanbase from attending games, what about the impact on local jobs, businesses and the city’s tax base? Sometimes partners put aside profits to better society. I believe in the American system, things like this make me think would current ownership continue their Jimmy Fund partnership if something else came along which was better financially for the team? John Henry was vocal about changing the street name outside Fenway. If it wasn’t for Tom Yawkey’s generosity, would there be a ajimmy Fund today? The man’s viewpoints would not be accepted today but they likely wouldn’t have to be. America continues to evolve but his viewpoints represented how, when and where he grew up. I’m sorry for making this political, but it’s time America was taken back by the true majority. We got to be the best country in the world by working together. The conservative Democrats and the more liberal Republicans need to retake congress and rule together. It’s very sad that the extremes of both parties are currently in charge. I for one can only say “GO BLOOMBERG!”.
It is in fact a money grab, its to raise the pay of the remaining players.
at best by a penny!
Bkbk – so you propose to retract and eliminate (or relocate) every mlb revenue sharing club because they can’t support themselves?
Should we retract the rays and marlins because their attendance doesn’t meet league averages or even close to it? Including even though the marlins have one of the newer/fancier ballparks?
Should we retract the As because their stadium is has unacceptable subpar conditions that place players at risk – they have sewage back up regularly in player areas.
Fewer mlb clubs would mean better quality teams on the field, there’s many mlb ballplayers who produce negligable war or negative meaning they really don’t have the likelihood of successful or worthwhile careers, it’s no loss if we eliminate them from competing.
Most of Manfred’s arguments can be applied to mlb clubs as well…
Bravo. Great point AtlSoxFan
Retract or move, yes. The idea of a team not being financially competitive and then ultimately not generally competitive is the worst possible thing that can happen at the MLB level.
All that said, Id like to the owners relinquish a bit more of the total revenue as a % (to the players).
Any team, minor or major league, that can’t support themselves should move or be retracted. it’s a business. If a business is failing it’s not up to other businesses to keep them open.
Now if only the Friars could trade for a SP and an OF, while all the other teams seem to be in full FA mode, what is AJ doing?” hello AJ what’s your plan to wait until there all gone.
You guys really need to stay away from this MLB/MiLB issue.
It’s dissolving into politics, and nothing written or said in the comment section is going to resolve anything. It’ll just create ill feelings.
Most of us come here to stay away from politics, which is slowly working its way back from being totally out of control in America. Most of us are fed-up with hearing the arguments, and want to see solutions. If not, we’ll go elsewhere. Life is too short.
It will not it’ll. You make absolutely zero sense
It’ll is a common contraction, meaning it will or it shall. Now, to point out an actual error, lets look at your sentences. You missed a comma and a period there big dog.
It’s fine to use contractions.
Contractions are constructions where a letter or letter is replaced with an apostrophe, such as it’s, don’t, I’ll, etc. “It is fine to use contractions,” doesn’t flow as well but some people argue against contractions especially in more formal texts.
You can ignore those people. Writing when you are not allowed to use contractions often does not seem as graceful as it could be. And you would not want everything you write to come off sounding as stiff as this paragraph does. Basically you are a dumb ass. It’ll be ok if you use contractions, but not all the time.
@DTD_ATL To point out an actual error, “let us” look at your sentences. “Let’s” is a common contraction, meaning “let us.” I think you missed an apostrophe there, big dog.
This is a baseball site guys, not an English class. If you’re here to correct our grammatical errors, you need a life. Maybe try becoming an English teacher or something…
“It’ll” is a contraction of “It will” or “It shall” first used in 1824. You make absolutely zero sense
lmao seething.
Joeschev- take it easy. Roll with it poor cry girl.
Who is this guy?
joeschev, you’ve chosen a weird hill to die on homie
Joeschev, who are you and why does your opinion matter?
I think he really did cry. lol
U mad brah? Yeah u mad.
joeschev………
Learn the difference between posting “opinion” and posting “fact” before commenting next time, then you won’y look like such a stupid little b??ch.
(Hint: You did the former I did the latter)
Whoa. This is like a cyber Rocky 4. We all can change.
Yeah homeboy doesn’t know how it’s done in the mlbtr hood.
As someone who has used “it’ll” a thousand times, my thanks to joeschev for pointing out how stupid it looks. I’ll stick to saying it and texting it maybe but any form of communication above that.. it just looks too stupid.
Ummm…
You are 100 percent spot on. We shouldn’t discuss politics or bring up how AOC sucks and how we Bernie is a socialist. Agreed
Subtle, I like it
We shouldn’t talk about how socialism is responsible for the demise of over 100mil and the source of constant struggle in third world soon to be fourth world countries whose citizen pray for the sweet freedom of capitalism
Right, because capitalism has never killed anyone and certainly has never caused war.
Literally a higher kill count than ww2 Germany by 20x and all you can say is ‘uh lil Debbie kills people too’
Get real kid
Correct.
Haha! Seriously!
Who’s this guy kidding?
If you’re gonna troll, at least make sense
They’re all capitalist countries where teh games are more rigged than others. There are no socialist countries in the world. A quick google search would help you with that. Socialism doesnt exist.
Sooo, one country in one war versus the entirely of socialism? How is that far, gramps?
Your kidding of course, socialism and communism are sister and brother just ask Venezuela from one of the wealthiest countries in So America going to socialism to total chaos and starvation. .
I think you mistake socialism, or any other theoretical system of government, with government. Socialism didn’t murder anyone, not has it been responsible for anyone’s death ever. Government’s on the other hand kill/murder people all the time. What 100 million people are you talking about. Communisim, a form of government is blamed for the deaths of Ukrainian’s by the millions but again that’s not socialism but a government. Monarchies, democracies (which don’t exist), and all other forms are irrelavent. Government is the single most deadly thing in human history, worse than malaria, bubonic plague, measles/mumps/rheaubella, aids, drunk driving and anything else. WW 1, WW 2, genocide of Armenians, Rewandans, Ugandans, Uighers, Slavs, Jews, Native Americans, more than you can name. So what form of government do you believe is responsible for these bad acts while the others are the good guys. I hope you’re a kid, and not some dumb redneck adult.
Stop being a parrot. No one ACTUALLY is promoting socialism. Theyre promoting capitalism with a safety net and none believe it will happen, they are merely pushing ideas to push the conversation more left.
Were gonna reach peak capitalism and if we dont adjust how much power the mere fact of owning things gives with having to do no work we are going to see the have nots kill the haves, like historic France, Brazil, England, Colombia, South Africa, Morroco, Argentina and every other country that held capitalism long enough to create oligrachies.
Hook, line and sinker this guy.
Yep. I like your understanding of history.
You sound like a redneck
Idiot!!!
Does anything said in these comments ever solve anything regardless of the topic?
Baez needs to get paid. There is no room for error here.
“We’ll go elsewhere”, lol speak for yourself poindexter.. Don’t let the door hit ya
Then go elsewhere, Vandal. Please.
Dude you were right . People are really arguing over it”ll. We just can’t engage in conversation without argument anymore
Bum has to get paid! Doesn’t matter the location, but he had to get $. Too many friendly contracts in SF.
While I agree that he deserves to get paid, he only signed one contract in SF and it was generally deemed fair by most parties
It was deemed a bargain contract, though it turned less bargain-like with his accident.
Though bargain contracts are fair, the player gets security up front.
Bernie Sanders should have Congress investigate why Kirby Yates didn’t win reliever of the year for the NL. He had superior numbers across the board. Winning the “Hoffy” not allowed for Padres pitchers?
I look forward to a government led committee getting us results in 2032.
more than 100 congressmen came out and signaled opposition to commissioner’s plan.
Who cares, they do nothing but try to get rich and reelected
No pitcher will win Hoffy if the team is bellow 500
Trevor Bauer is a personality, that’s for sure
Somewhere the Indians front office is laughing saying your problem now Reds.
even after that 1st half this year they still got most of the sell high value. one year wonder.
I wouldn’t count Bauer out. The man is a student of his craft, and I’m expecting a big rebound this coming year.
while you’re probably right, as a Reds fan and avid supporter of MiLB I appreciate him that much more now. Shuttering franchises and fanbases at the most elementary levels is akin to abandoning family because caring for them is inconvenient
Amen
Yeah, if baseball were a family and not a business you may have a point, but since it’s not…
well, therein you’ve illustrated the opposing philosophy. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but that’s the essence of this conflict.
The MLBPA could afford to buy the minor league teams.
It would be very interesting to see what they’d pay minor league players.
again, it shoudnt need to be on the major leaguers to pay for these things. Its criminal how low the saleries of these players are, and the league can certainly afford pay increases.
Way to intentionally miss his point
Well, considering the MiLB team owners are prohibited from setting salary levels for their players I’d say your question is a moot point. Just like now, they would be bound to whatever salary MLB sets.
That’s the thing for minor league owners, MiLB players aren’t “their” players. MiLB supplies a ballpark and a bus, and MLB supplies the players. MiLB players make precisely what MLB owners think they should make. It would be no different if the MLBPA owned the minors (which it won’t, ever). But it would be telling, I think… Every dollar a minor leaguer makes is a dollar Gerrit Cole can’t make. That’s why MiLB salary never goes anywhere, neither the league nor the union have any stake in MiLB players making money.
More players need to start speaking out in regards to the rule changes Manfred is implementing.
Bauer isn’t the right voice though. He shouldn’t complain about others trying to make the most money they can while doing the exact same thing.
If any player should speak out about it then it’s probably Bauer, since he’s signaled his desire to pitch year to year and not sign long term contracts. That’s not an efficient or safe way to maximize his earnings, and he’s also literally only taking this approach so that he doesn’t get shot in the nuts with a paintball gun. It’s clear money isn’t Bauer’s main focus, for better or for worse, so he’s a better person to speak out about these issues than someone who’s signed or plans to sign a mega million, multi-year contract.
Good to see political debates are open for discussion on this site but addison Russell becoming a free agent can’t be discussed cuz he hit his wife a few years ago
Can’t call David Price a little b***h either.
You do realize that both of you did both of the things that you’re whining about not being able to do, right?
Not whining here, attempt at humor. Couple days ago I spelled out the B word in a Price post and it was flagged and pulled.
That just proves price is not a female dog.
It’s late this whole thread will be deleted by morning
Allegedly, Cubguy13
The contraction is short sighted. It overlooks all the kids from small towns who fall in love with baseball and either enter the game or become fans. It overlooks all of the front office, pr, abs media talent that starts their careers in minor league ball.
I understand the desire for efficiency but when a game is struggling to attract youth and new fans, tanking it from 42 communities has costs that don’t show on 2020’s profit and loss statement.
yessir, if baseball were an organism then bottom tier franchises would be its cells
There are many arguments against Manfred’s plans, among the ones I see?
– milb posted year-over-year attendance increase league wide. Mlb again posted a decrease. Anyone wonder if mlb/owners think/hope eliminating select affiliates would mean fans have to attend pricier mlb games if they want to see baseball and capture some of that revenue?
– they contradict eachother, decrease travel distance by removing teams, but someone move teams closer to parent orgs… the geographic distribution of mlb clubs means some clubs would lack nearby competition after locating close to parents.
– salary savings are negligable. Even at an increase to 50k/yr per milb minimum player, a team of 25 costs 1.25m/yr… the 42 teams contracted would, spread amongst the 32 clubs, save 1.6m/yr per club. Pitch clocks and new baseballs, pace of play initiatives cost more
– maybe mlb/owners are angling towards the impasse Manfred referenced allowing them to negotiate with independants/cities outside eligible locations. Why? It’s MUCH cheaper to buy one of those than pay current fair market value for the existing teams to acquire affiliate control
Perhaps the biggest head scratcher – why does mlb get to put out an (arguably) misleading position sheet, then insist any further come try be behind closed doors in negotiation? Milb puts out a similar-in-intent rebuttal position sheet staking their views of the issues, and that’s improper and worthy of throwing a hissy fit?
Well put.
And for the record I’m one of the countless small town kids she grew up going to minor league games and moved to a major league market as a young adult. I’ve now had a ticket plan for 14 years and am taking my son to games.
Only earned 58M compared to lesser pitchers is a shame. It’s a lot to you and me, but 4th and 5th starters with no WS rings get 20M/yr.
Giants could always frontload it, so at the end when they are trying to compete it’s not an albatross contract. Or deferred money. If there’s a guy on the market that should be a one-team guy its MadBum.
Giants have at least a half dozen bad contracts with past their prime players, what’s one more.
why would madbum go back to the giants,they paid way below the market and they stink far away from contending
I hope Sox sign Bumgarner. Team needs his fire.
Yes
Padres should trade Yates and insert Lamet in at closer or pomeranz and put Lamet in the pen for 7th or 8th duty.
You could haul in a decent package or attach Yates to Myers to clear salary.
Maybe white Sox to put Myers at 1st abreu at dh add Yates to the pen plus another B/C prospect or two and take back Jimmy Lambert
Maybe Angels take Myers and Yates plus some mlb ready pitchers like Bolanos Morejon and Padres take back Jose Soriano. Put Myers at 1st.
Maybe red Sox take Myers and send padres Price plus Noah Song and stick Myers at 1st.
Maybe Indians take Myers and Yates plus some OF depth like Naylor and send back Scott Moss. Put Myers at 1st
Maybe Twins take Myers and Yates plus some pitching like quantril and bolanos for starting pitching and send back Nick Gordon. Put Myers at 1st.
Maybe Brewers take Myers and Yates Bolanos and Quantril and send back Aaron Ashby. Stick Myers at 1st. Add to the pen. Pick up pitching depth that’s cost controlled. Plus adding Yates means they could deal hader for an insane package.
Absolutely NO ONE is taking Myers unless the Padres pay almost all of the salary or attach Gore to him, and the Padres are not going to attach Gore to him. So that leaves them to pay almost all of it down.
Even to get Price the Padres would have to attach a really good prospect or send money to pay more of Myers contract too!
Never say no one. A couple of years ago they paid just under half of Shields contract to the White Sox …
… and got Tatis back.
While true, Tatis hadn’t played a game in the minors yet and wasn’t a truly amazing prospect. He developed into something much better than any organization thought he’d become.
Bad trade by White Sox back then and look worse now. What was White Sox thinking.
Mariners were able to clear canos salary by attaching Edwin Diaz.
Padres attach Yates and some decent prospects they’d find a taker.
It’s doable but Padres have to be willing to attach Yates.
Just call the Mets — their GM is easy to pull one on
Maybe Blue Jays:
Myers, Naylor, Quantrill, Weathers and $8-mil over 4 years to Toronto.
Giles, Grichuk, Riley Adams and Kevin Smith to SD
I’d take that deal
Sure u will that deal is another Padre fan pipe dream
Reading the comments this morning has been hilarious to say the least.
The same people railing against socialism are the same people that want MLB teams to pay for failing MiLB teams. And why? Because they can afford it.
In regards to socialism, allow me to quote Inigo Montoya: “You keep using that word. I don’t think it means what you think it means.”
If you’re ok with/support the idea of revenue sharing in MLB you’re either ok with/support the idea of MLB contributing to MiLB costs, or, you’re a hypocrite
Personally I am against revenue sharing. I also think the MiLB situation is much more complex than is being reported. As in politics, mostly all we will hear is the mud slinging and way too many people have their minds mde up before they hear either side.
Very accurate statement, sir. Your position was articulated well. I don’t care for revenue sharing or the luxury tax. If teams make more money, they should be able to spend more money – basic capitalism. They should NOT be mandated to participate in the parity program. Why doesn’t baseball just mandate wins too – Obviously rhetorical.
So you’ d like to see the same four teams spending $300m annually always in the playoffs, that would kill baseball for sure. Same goes for any sport.
Haha I was thinking the same exact thing. Why’s it even discussed here? Love Montoya quote!!
Well, one first has to buy Manfred’s narrative that MLB owners are just hemorrhaging money to keep all these hopeless MiLB teams from folding.
Braves have “checked in”
Guy named Chris Sale they could have kept.
U have to admit Bauer has fire in his belly, he’ll b back this year after an injury and chopped up season
Do I smell a Yates, Gore for Happ, Andujar, Garcia and Florial?
Padres aren’t trading Gore
Nope. What he smells is toro caca.
Manfred is a clown — he didnt like what fans were being said on MLB.com so they took away the comments page — then when you could comment via Twitter they stopped that also — 6 yrs in a row attendence has gone down and Manfred the clown isnt helping by pissing fans off — thank you Trevor Bauer
Engaged=casual contact. Schulman has obviously never been engaged
Engaged=casual contact. Schulman has obviously never been engaged
MadBum as a two way player would be amazing
D backs over paid as far as the five yr. deal goes. There certainly not going to make any playoffs in 2020 with the current team adding mad bum so why the deal to madbum?
Yo Meat at less talking and alot more wins. Imagine what the Big Red Machine salaries would be in today’s market