With the San Francisco Giants quickly sinking in the NL West, they may have to consider doing the unthinkable at this year’s trade deadline.
Bryan Murphy of McCovey Chronicles cited a reported message from an industry source on Monday which read, “Word on the street is that everyone is on the chopping block minus [catcher Buster] Posey and [shortstop Brandon] Crawford.” The message was in obvious reference to the San Francisco roster.
There are certainly a number of notable Giants who could presumably be dealt in that scenario (Brandon Belt, Johnny Cueto, etc.). But perhaps the biggest name would be beloved lefty and career-long Giant Madison Bumgarner.
The 28-year-old Bumgarner, who was drafted by San Francisco back in 2007, is a marquee fan favorite and even arguably the face of the team. He has made a total of four All-Star teams in a Giants uniform and was key to all three of their titles in the last decade, including winning World Series MVP in 2014.
Bumgarner has fallen off a bit in the last couple of seasons however and has a $12 million club option for 2019. Some indications are that talks on a possible extension could be rather dicey, so the Giants may unfortunately have to think long and hard about MadBum’s continued future with them.
