San Francisco Giants “in communication” with Madison Bumgarner
By Justin Fried
The San Francisco Giants are reportedly “in communication” with starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner as the offseason saga surrounding his status continues.
The San Francisco Giants offseason chatter has been dominated by the uncertain status of one man. A man who’s been as synonymous with Giants baseball as any player in the past decade. That man is Madison Bumgarner.
Bumgarner remains unsigned into the early weeks of MLB free agency but that hasn’t stopped his name from remaining at the forefront of free agency rumors.
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There has been plenty of speculation about his future with teams such as the St. Louis Cardinals, Minnesota Twins, Chicago White Sox, and Atlanta Braves all reportedly in the mix. But absent from that list has been the San Francisco Giants.
The Giants were widely expected to shop Bumgarner at the trade deadline this past season and it seemed as though his days in San Francisco were numbered. But the team’s sudden winning streak in July halted any plans of moving him at the deadline.
However, that decision may have just delayed the inevitable.
Bumgarner has shown plenty of interest in a return to San Francisco even with his market souring to a contract expected to be worth over $100 million when all is set and done. But to this point, the Giants haven’t shown mutual interest.
That is until president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi told season ticket holders during a recent Q&A at Oracle Park that the two sides had been “in communication” with one another.
The extent to which they have spoken about a return is unknown but Zaidi did make it clear that contract talks had commenced.
"“(Bumgarner) is a free agent and we’re in communication there. And he’s going to vet all of his options. Being a free agent is something guys aspire to. It’s nice to be at a point in your career where you’re getting courted and can look around at your options.”"
Rumors seem to change daily about where Bumgarner will sign and when he might do it. But at the very least we’ve now heard from the Giants head honcho himself that the team is looking into possibly bringing him back, contradicting previous reports.
That said, it still does seem like a longshot that Bumgarner will return to San Francisco next season. The Giants are still very much rebuilding and Zaidi evidently wants to rid the team of its old stars in favor of a freshly built roster.
Still, Bumgarner is one of the few members of the old World Series rosters who is still playing at a very high level, even if it’s not on par with his glory days.
That might not matter to Zaidi, however, who could very well be hoping that Bumgarner’s market explodes so that the Giants have a legitimate excuse not to go after him. And in reality, that’s very well what we might see happen.
But it is nice to know that the Giants are at least exploring the possibility of a return even if a reunion isn’t likely to occur.
Next. San Francisco Giants: Farhan Zaidi clearly not focused on pleasing fans. dark
Madison Bumgarner might be done in San Francisco, but Giants fans hoping for a return at least now have a glimmer of hope to hold on to.