MadBum could be on the move.
Reports of the 30-year-old Madison Bumgarner's demise have been greatly exaggerated, as he turned in a strong season for the Giants in 2019, amassing a 3.4 fWAR/2.5 bWAR in 34 starts in the Bay Area. That means teams should come calling this winter.
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While the past two seasons have been underwhelming for the Giants, Bumgarner could benefit from a change of scenery. It's also no surprise that almost all the teams on this list have been linked to Bumgarner through trade rumors this season.
Here are six teams which could — and should — try to land him.
Atlanta Braves
Potential rotation: Mike Soroka, Madison Bumgarner, Max Fried, Mike Foltynewicz, Julio Teheran
The question, as always, with the Braves is whether they're going to spend the money to get where they need to be.
After an embarassing Game 5 loss to the Cardinals — in their own building, no less — Atlanta is left wondering what could have been, what should have been in 2019, their best season in years. Instead, they got to see a division rival who willingly spent money to bring in Patrick Corbin last offseason win a World Series. You'll remember, the Braves' two big-ticket signings last offseason were Josh Donaldson (for a year) and Nick Markakis (also for a year).
The Braves have holes to fill and lots of questions to answer. Will they bring back Josh Donaldson? How will they address the bullpen this offseason? Most importantly, how will they reinforce their rotation?
While they have two very good young starters in Mike Soroka and Max Fried, Mike Foltynewicz had an up-and-down year that resulted in that ugly elimination in the NLDS. Bringing in Dallas Keuchel helped, but he wasn't enough, and now he's a free agent. The Braves could certainly use a guy like Bumgarner in their rotation, a sturdy, proven innings-eater who's pitched more than 200 innings in seven of his past nine seasons. You may remember, one season was derailed by a freak dirtbike injury, and the other was shortened by a fractured forearm he sustained in spring training.
Atlanta can't make the same mistake of waiting to sign a pitcher like they did with Keuchel. Damn the draft picks, go get your guys.
Houston Astros
Potential rotation: Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Madison Bumgarner, Lance McCullers Jr., José Urquidy
Well, it certainly seems as though Gerrit Cole is ready to move on from the Astros, as he wasted no time donning a Scott Boras hat after World Series Game 7. No, really. That's an actual thing that happened.
Before Zack Greinke landed in Houston at the buzzer of the 2019 trade deadline, the Astros inquired on the Giants ace. For whatever reason, the deal didn't get done, but things worked out for both sides: Bumgarner got his presumptive send-off in San Fran, while the Astros took the Nationals to the limit in the World Series.
Now, the 'Stros have a chance to bring in Bumgarner to help reinforce the rotation, just for money this time (and a potential draft pick), not prospects.
Houston could certainly use another lefty on the pitching staff, considering they are very righty dominant throughout the rotation and the bullpen. Wade Miley was one of two lefties to make starts for the Astros last season, and now he's a free agent.
Should Houston not re-sign Cole — for whatever reason — then another veteran in the rotation could certainly help.
Texas Rangers
Potential rotation: Madison Bumgarner, Mike Minor, Arial Jurado, Joe Palumbo,
It would be a bit unreasonable to expect Mike Minor and Lance Lynn to perform to their 2019 selves in 2020. Both in their 30s, and both had career years. Minor pitched to a 7.8 bWAR, while Lynn pitched to a 7.6 bWAR.
Minor is under contract for the upcoming season, and Lynn is in a Rangers uniform for the next three years. Outside of those two, there aren't many answers. Everything's bigger in Texas, including the holes in the Rangers' rotation.
With the Rangers opening up a new ballpark — and not trading Minor or Lynn at the deadline — they're determined to at least field a competitive unit, akin to what we saw in 2019. This could open the door for Texas to bring in Bumgarner, who, snarl, snotrockets and all, is an attraction and brings a competitive grit that Texas could use in a tough and improving division next season.
Milwaukee Brewers
Potential rotation: Zach Davies, Madison Bumgarner, Brandon Woodruff, Adrian Houser
The Brewers are on the cutting edge of the analytic plane, but that still means nothing if they don't have guys to take the ball every fifth day.
Milwaukee was reportedly engaged with the Giants for a potential trade before the deadline, definitely feeling the pressure of adding a starter in a wide-open National League. Gio Gonzalez was a smart add — he was wonderful for them in 2018 — but he wasn't enough to get the Brewers past the eventual world champs in the wild card game.
The Brewers don't have much in the way of immediate rotation help in the farm system — righty Zack Brown is a step away at Triple-A, but scuffled some with San Antonio.
Minnesota Twins
Potential rotation: José Berrios, Madison Bumgarner, ???, ???, ???
The Twins, fresh off an 100-win season, have major holes to fill in their rotation, and they're in for a busy, busy offseason. Michael Pineda, Kyle Gibson and Jake Odorizzi are all free agents — a reunion could certainly be in the cards for one or two — which leaves José Berrios and a cast of thousands to try to fill those rotation spots.
While the Twins have some potential answers in the minors and some at the major league level, they'll need to turn to free agency to fill out the rotation. It makes a lot of sense for the Twins to fill it out with Bumgarner, a crafty veteran and proven October pitcher, to try to end their playoff woes once and for all.
San Diego Padres
Potential rotation: Chris Paddack, Madison Bumgarner, Cal Quantrill, Joey Lucchesi, Nick Margevicius
The Padres haven't been shy about wanting to bring in rotation help, if the reports over the past two seasons are true. They've been linked to Noah Syndergaard as recently as this season, and Stephen Strasburg even more recently.
Bumgarner obviously has familiarity with the division, something that helps a team getting ready to make a run at the postseason. He offers the veteran presence which the Padres have been hot after, and he costs money, not prospects, which the Padres deeply value.
Adding a splash of veteran to an incredibly young Padres rotation could be a big help — and adding Bumgarner's signature grit and attitude to a young team trying to find an edge and identity could help as well.
