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Schulman thinks Giants might offer Bumgarner a Kershaw-esque contract this offseason

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© Joe Camporeale | 2019 Aug 15


Throughout a ridiculous July that catapulted the Giants right back into the Wild Card race, it became increasingly unlikely that Farhan Zaidi would trade Madison Bumgarner unless he was completely blown away. He was not. The trade deadline came and went and the beloved ace is still a Giant.

Now, the question is whether or not he will continue to don the orange and black once his contract expires at the end of this season. Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle came on the Murph & Mac show Tuesday morning and discussed what Bumgarner’s future with the Giants could look like.

“I think they would love to have him back,” Schulman said on KNBR. “I think Farhan has made it clear that this is the kind of player you build a franchise around. Whether you might not win next year, maybe it will take a couple of years.

“I would suspect – though nobody has told me this – that they will try and give him a similar extension that [the Dodgers] gave Clayton Kershaw…It was a very short extension. It was maybe three years and about $100 million dollars. I think that’s probably the direction they would go. The Giants are not going to be giving a six year offer to a 30-year-old Madison Bumgarner. I don’t see it happening, that just doesn’t seem to be in the cards.”

The Dodgers signed Kershaw to a three-year, $93 million contract extension back in November of 2018. Although people would love to see Bumgarner continue pitching at Oracle Park, Schulman says it’s difficult to get a read on which way the longtime Giants pitcher is leaning.

“The thing is Madison just will not, no matter how many times we prod him, he just will not betray his feelings whether he would sign an extension or want to see what is on the open market. I think he does like it here, he has ties to San Francisco, he loves the organization but I think his biggest loyalties are to Buster [Posey] and [Bruce] Bochy and one of those guys is going to be gone at the end of the year. I think that is one thing that kind of sways me into thinking that he is going to want to see what is out there.”

With the Giants still in playoff contention, Schulman believes it would have taken a lot in return for Zaidi to part ways with Bumgarner at the deadline.

“I truly believe they would have traded him if they would have gotten another Jaylin Davis or Mauricio Dubon. I don’t think any team was willing to give anybody remotely close to that and I think it was easy for the Giants to look at the offers they got and say ‘none of these guys is worth taking Madison away from the fans when we still have a mathematical shot at making the playoffs.”

The Giants received Davis from the Minnesota Twins in the Sam Dyson deal and Dubon from the Milwaukee Brewers in the Drew Pomeranz deal.

Listen to the full interview below. To hear Schulman on Bumgarner, start from 3:10.