MLB players can’t ignore rumors
SAN FRANCISCO – You walk into the Giants’ clubhouse, stroll down the hallway past manager Bruce Bochy’s office, and there they all are, like Macy’s window displays at Christmas.
Look left, and you have your choice of relievers, led by closer Will Smith and flanked by Tony Watson, Sam Dyson and Mark Melancon.
Look to your immediate right, and there is your front-line starting pitcher and World Series hero in Madison Bumgarner.
Look across the room, and there are center fielder Kevin Pillar and infielder Pablo Sandoval.
Ten days from now, they could be scattered across the country. That is if the Giants decide their hot streak is just an aberration and sell them all off.
The Giants players will tell you they try not to think about it or get caught up in nostalgia knowing that the game Tuesday evening against the Cubs could be Bumgarner’s final appearance with
San Francisco.
It’s really little different in the 29 other major league clubhouses, or even all of the minor league affiliates, knowing that the next time the cellphone rings it could be your general manager saying it’s time to pack your bags and catch the next flight.
“I try not to worry about it because I have zero control over it,” said Smith, who has been traded three times in his career. “I can’t tell (GM) Farhan (Zaidi), this is where I want to go or don’t be there. You just have to let it go. If you sit around thinking about it, it would drive yourself crazy reading everything.
“Look, we got some dudes that people would obviously want in their bullpen and their rotation, for sure, but we do a really good job shutting all that out and just playing baseball. That’s all you can do.
“And if you’re traded, it’s not the end of the world. You’re going to a contending team. You got a chance for a ring. Really, it all works out in the end.”
Bumgarner, who was drafted by the Giants and led them to three World Series championships, hasn’t asked any questions, Bochy says. But the manager knows the lefty would not be human not to wonder about his future.
“I never felt like I had to talk to anybody,” Bochy said last week. “They know this is the time of year you’re going to hear rumors and speculation. But I never heard anything in there, including from the obvious one, Madison.”
Still, it can be unnerving to anyone, even a veteran such as Rangers starter Mike Minor, who grew up in the Braves organization. He reacted angrily last week just hearing that Texas was listening to offers on him and several of his teammates.
“It does piss us off,” Minor said last week. “I don’t want to go anywhere. It seems like ever since I signed (in 2017) I’ve been a topic. It’s almost like I signed just so they could trade me.”
It’s no different for All-Star closer Brad Hand, who a year ago was traded from the Padres to the Indians after signing a multiyear contract and a year later listened to rumors he might be dealt again before the Indians started climbing back into the American League Central race.
Simply, the better you perform in this game, the greater your chances of being traded. And the worse your team performs, the odds of being traded soars exponentially.
“I pay attention to it. You can’t help it,” Hand said. “I saw my name was thrown out there a little bit a month ago. I wouldn’t say I’m worried about it, but you pay attention to it. It’s like, ‘Oh, man, am I going to be traded again?’ ”
In this age of social media, no matter how much players might try to tune out the rumors, they can’t hide from it. The rumors are shot across the screen on MLB Network and ESPN. They are on your smartphones. Your laptops. Your newspapers. Your kids’ schools.
“I don’t think that it helps when I go home and I have neighbors asking me about it, too,” Minor said.
Even those who aren’t in danger of being traded wonder just who’s coming or going in their clubhouse.
“It’s always interesting to see what names are popping up, especially what random names pop up,” Athletics AllStar reliever Liam Hendricks said. “Now, a lot of those rumors that go around could be posturing a little bit. They could be inconsequential. You’ve got to take it all with a little bit of a grain of salt.
“But we’re guilty of it ourselves. We always play the trade game in the bullpen and in the clubhouse, like, ‘Who will be a good fit for us?’
“It never ends up who we think, but it’s still fun playing the game.”
Sometimes, it even brings the truth out of players, such as when former Dodgers A.J. Ellis and Zack Greinke were sitting on the bench one day and Ellis asked Greinke what move he believed would most help the team.
Greinke told him to give him a day to think about it.
He came back and said, “Well, trading you.”
Greinke, now the ace of the Diamondbacks, was serious.
Hey, it’s that time of year, right? “I’m always curious to see what will happen this time of year,” Cardinals AllStar shortstop Paul DeJong said. “We all are, right? Come on, it’s baseball.”