What could Giants get for Bumgarner?
Zaidi wants to continue building out the rotation, which indicates the Giants may not be as keen on trading ace Madison Bumgarner as some believe. However, nearly any deal involving the left-hander would require a team to part with a young starting pitcher the Giants could plug into their staff in the near future.
While a pre-spring training Bumgarner trade appears increasingly unlikely, it’s a topic that will be discussed throughout the year and it’s the first question in Part II of our Giants Mailbag from this week.
Question from @Baseballchaz: Have the talks with the Milwaukee Brewers over a Madison Bumgarner trade, definitely stopped? Do you think that Corbin Burnes and Corey Ray, is the best return the Giants could get for Madison Bumgarner, from any team, right now?
Zaidi has publicly stated that the Giants aren’t making outgoing calls regarding Madison Bumgarner, but that doesn’t mean talks with every team have died down. In fact, the Brewers are a logical fit because they need a quality starter and have the prospect capital to satisfy the other end of a deal.
With that in mind, it’s important to remember that players with one year of control left (like Bumgarner) no longer command what they once did on the trade market. Considering Corey Ray and Corbin Burnes are two of Milwaukee’s top prospects, it’s unlikely the Brewers would part with both for Bumgarner. In my opinion, that’s a deal that’s actually too one-sided to materialize.
However, if Bumgarner impresses during the first half of the year and Ray struggles with his contact rate again in the minors, a trade like this could come to fruition at or near the July deadline.
Question from @obcgiantscompul: Why do some fans care about drafting OF when the team won three championships? It is not exactly like this fact held them up in any way, if anything it’s been their ability to draft pitchers that got them there, and they have had trouble repeating that success.
Winning three World Series in five years is a remarkable feat, but it’s even more incredible the Giants accomplished this without their own homegrown stars in the outfield. It took a dominant and largely homegrown pitching staff and infield to do this, but nevertheless, the achievement becomes more impressive with each passing season.
Fans care because an inability to develop homegrown talent in the outfield for such an extended period of time was always bound to haunt the Giants. We’ve watched that unfold over the past few seasons and it could continue if Steven Duggar and or Heliot Ramos don’t become long-term regulars for San Francisco. Without homegrown talent at three key positions, a team is forced to put all its eggs in the free agency and trade baskets and that’s a strain on the payroll.
While the Giants have proven it’s possible to win without drafted Allstars manning the outfield, I understand the desire to watch a drafted prospect arrive in the majors and become a perennial 20-to-30 home run hitter and middle-of-theorder presence. Pitching and defense can win you some games, but power still has the ability to attract interest and bring fans out to the stadium.
Question from @442427: I’d like to see Wil Myers in a Giants uniform. Is he available? Maybe for a Panik and Watson package? That guy rakes when he visits.
It’s no secret the Padres have tried numerous ways to make Wil Myers a better fit in San Diego, especially because he’s under contract for the next five seasons and owed $90 million in that time frame. The Padres aren’t advertising their desire to trade Myers, but there probably isn’t a strong market for a player who doesn’t have a natural position and lacks consistency at the plate.