© Jake Roth | 2019 Mar 28
As of Thursday, June 20th, the Giants sit ten games under .500 and are in last place of the National League West. As the trade deadline approaches, talk of San Francisco being sellers continue to progress. Especially surrounding ace Madison Bumgarner, who has looked solid as of late, pitching at least six innings in 11 of his last 12 starts. It would be hard to refute that the Giants could get a hefty return from a team that is gearing up for a playoff run and could use the southpaws services. A trade as such could help re-tool the Giants farm system.
However, longtime Giants announcer, Mike Krukow, doesn’t exactly see it like that. He joined the Murph & Mac Show Thursday morning to discuss all things Giants. He shared some of his thoughts on the trade rumors surrounding Bumgarner.
“I’m not convinced he’s going anywhere,” Krukow said. “I’m really not. We’ve been so dramatic about ‘oh it’s his last start against the Dodgers at home’ I don’t believe any of that. I really don’t, I think he’s going to be here.”
Krukow looked at the future for his reasoning on believing Bumgarner could be staying put.
“The Giants know they have Johnny Cueto coming back. I do think they feel he [Bumgarner] does have a lot left.”
Jonny Cueto, whom Bruce Bochy said could return in September, is currently rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and will be full go by the start of the 2020 season. A healthy Bumgarner-Cueto pairing at top of a rotation has the ability to compete with any rotation in the MLB. Krukow went on to explain his perception on the pitchers status with the Giants.
“I think somewhere, and this is just me, being optimistic about this simply because I don’t want to see that dynamic walk out of that clubhouse, I think he has a chance of staying. That’s what I’m going to hope for anyway cause I don’t want to see that day either. I don’t want to see him put another uniform on. Period.”
Only time will tell what Farhan chooses to do with with his coveted ace, Madison Bumgarner.
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Krukow on Bumgarner, start from 9:10.