Madison Bumgarner has helped the San Francisco Giants win three World Series championships and is one of the most dominant postseason pitchers of his generation, but it is not out of the question that the team could move on from him during a rebuilding phase.
New Giants president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi, who served as the general manager for the Los Angeles Dodgers over the past four seasons, had high praise for Bumgarner on Wednesday but would not rule out trading the left-hander.
Zaidi said Bumgarner is "seminal pillar for this franchise," but added, "where we are, everything has to be on table in terms of how we move team and roster forward."
— Alex Pavlovic (@PavlovicNBCS) November 7, 2018
Bumgarner is owed a team-friendly $12 million in 2019 before he will become an unrestricted free agent. The Giants won just 73 games this season and 64 in 2017, and they are currently one of the worst teams in baseball. If Zaidi feels they are a few years away from being competitive, signing Bumgarner to a massive free agent deal may not make a ton of sense.
Of course, Bumgarner is one of the most popular players in Giants history. The 2014 World Series and NLCS MVP has a record of 8-3 and a 2.11 ERA in the postseason. While his success on the big stage is undeniable, San Francisco has to get to the playoffs for any of that to matter.
Zaidi just watched his former team extend one of its most important players, but the Giants are in a much different place than their biggest rival. If Zaidi has a chance to get a major haul in return for Bumgarner, he wouldn’t be doing his job if he didn’t at least consider it.
