After playing a key role in bringing the Giants their first three World Series championships since moving to San Francisco, it’s easy to assume that Madison Bumgarner and the Giants are the best of friends. Yet, Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic suggested on Tolbert & Lund Thursday evening that there might be something else to the relationship between Bumgarner and the Giants.
“It’s a weird situation,” Baggarly said. “Bumgarner hasn’t been at FanFest the past two years. Is that a part of him being pouty about his contract or will there be hard feelings about him falling off a dirt bike on an off-day and missing three months? It’s really a great question because when you re-sign this guy, you’re going to resign him for $300 million, given what he’s done in his career. We’ve already seen the backside of these Lincecum or Cain-type deals, where it’s really hard to get through the very end.”
Bumgarner started 2017 on the coattails of some serious momentum. He was an All-Star and finished in the top 10 for the Cy Young Award each of the four years leading up to last season with a combined 2.86 ERA. After suffering from a lack of run support through his first four starts, Bumgarner sprained his left shoulder and bruised his ribs when he crashed his dirt bike during a day off in Colorado on April 21 and didn’t make another start until July 15.
The Giants went 20-31 in his absence and Bumgarner finished the year 4-9 with a 3.32 ERA in 111 innings pitched.
Nonetheless, it can’t be ignored what Bumgarner has done in his career and what he means to the Giants’ fan base. After pitching 36 innings spread throughout the Giants’ trio of championships, Bumgarner is 4-0 with an all-time 0.25 ERA in the World Series.
“But I think right now, he’s under contract and they’ve got Posey and Crawford, these guys are barely 30,” Baggarly said. “You get into October and Bumgarner is your own window. He opens a window. He’s a guy who’s carried a team all the way to a World Series before and there’s no reason he can’t do it again.”
However, as much as the Giants might want to reward their ace with a large contract extension, they aren’t in the best position financially to make that happen this offseason. With players such as Johnny Cueto, Buster Posey, Jeff Samardzija and Mark Melancon on large contracts that stretch through at least 2020, the Giants can’t give Bumgarner an extension that matches his worth without overloading their payroll.
“I think they recognize that they have a lot of money owed to a lot of people right now and they have some payroll flexibility issues with Belt, Crawford, Posey, Cueto, Samardzija,” Baggarly said. “I mean, they probably owe more money in 2020 than anybody else in baseball right now.”
To listen to the full interview check out the podcast below, and skip to 6:31 for Baggarly on Bumgarner and the Giants.