© Joe Camporeale | 2019 Aug 15
According to everybody, the San Francisco Giants were supposed to trade Madison Bumgarner at the deadline. But on August 30, the big lefty is still a member of the Orange and Black, and now the discussion surrounding the soon-to-be free agent is whether he will remain in San Francisco after this year.
Giants VP of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi was asked about that situation when he joined Tolbert, Krueger & Brooks Thursday evening.
“He’s a guy who certainly fits our roster,” Zaidi said. “He would fit any roster in baseball because there aren’t that many guys that you can count on to take the ball every fifth day and give you quality starts. He certainly has done that this year and beyond, that what he’s meant to this organization, what he means to the fans, there’s a lot of reasons why it could make sense to keep him around beyond 2019.
“You know he’s a guy who’s a free agent, he’s going to explore his options but I imagine we’ll have some conversations about that. A lot of it is going to be his prerogative but I certainly wouldn’t rule it out at this point. I think there will be some mutual interest in at least having some conversations along those lines. Maybe not until now and the end of the season but once we get into the offseason I would expect us to at least have those conversations.”
There are some, like Giants beat writer Henry Schulman, who believe that the Giants will offer Bumgarner a lucrative short-term deal of around two or three years, similar to what the Dodgers gave Clayton Kershaw in 2018. Bumgarner is having a solid season with the Giants, posting a 3.71 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in 28 starts.
Listen to the full interview below. To hear Zaidi on Bumgarner, start from 7:00.