DECEMBER 17: The deal is now official.
Zach Buchanan of The Athletic reports further details on the contract structure (Twitter links). Bumgarner will earn just $6MM in 2020 before receiving successive salaries of $19MM, $23MM, $23MM, and $14MM. In each of the middle three campaigns, $5MM is deferred without interest. That money will be paid out in 2025-27.
DECEMBER 15: The Diamondbacks are closing in on a five-year deal that will bring free agent left-hander Madison Bumgarner to Arizona, reports ESPN’s Jeff Passan. The deal comes with an $85MM guarantee, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, with The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal adding that $15MM of that total will come in the form of deferred payments. Per Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic, the deal also includes a limited no-trade clause that allows Bumgarner to block trades to five teams.
It’s a somewhat surprising conclusion to Bumgarner’s first trip through free agency; while the 30-year-old had garnered well-documented interest from big-market teams like the Dodgers and Braves, the Diamondbacks were given relatively little attention as one of the teams pursuing the lefty. However, it seems that this match may have been motivated in part by the player’s interest in a team: Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic speculates that Bumgarner may have had larger offers on the table, but the geographic attraction of Arizona placed the Diamondbacks atop his list. In adding Bumgarner for $85MM, the Diamondbacks have handed out the second-largest contract in franchise history, behind only the mega-deal that brought Zack Greinke to the D-Backs prior to 2015.
And the price tag may look a bit low for Bumgarner, who was said to have his sights set on a nine-figure contract this winter. That seemed increasingly likely once the Phillies doled out $118MM to Zack Wheeler. Bumgarner is less than a year older than Wheeler and owns an undeniably stronger track record — interestingly, Bumgarner already had two championship rings by the time Wheeler made his MLB debut — but the disparity is indicative of teams’ belief in Wheeler’s projection, whereas Bumgarner’s best days could already be behind him. MLBTR had predicted that MadBum would end up with a four-year, $72MM deal. The actual contract adds another guaranteed season at a lesser rate of pay.
It may be that Bumgarner could have topped $100MM had he signed elsewhere. His reps gave other organizations the sense there there were multiple offers at that level, per Bob Nightengale of USA Today (via Twitter). Bumgarner evidently preferred to land in Arizona.
The Diamondbacks are clearly optimistic about Bumgarner’s future. While his numbers have certainly dipped noticeably from his stellar 2011-2016 span, Bumgarner is still a solid, reliable starter who has churned out 200-plus innings on a yearly basis. In 2019, his 3.90 ERA was the worst mark he’s posted in his career, but his strikeout rate reached its highest point since 2016. His home/road splits have been a noteworthy point of contention for those debating his value; having spent his entire career in the pitcher-friendly confines of Oracle Park, it’s fair to question how well he would fare in a different ballpark. With just a 35.8% groundball rate and a hard-hit rate that ranks in only the 10th percentile, skeptics may project an uptick in home runs outside of San Francisco.
Of course, we can’t discuss Madison Bumgarner without chronicling his legendary postseason ledger: during the heyday of the Giants’ early-2010s dynasty, MadBum tossed 102 1/3 innings of 2.11-ERA ball in October, including a 2014 run in which he shouldered the San Francisco pitching staff and worked 21 innings in the World Series alone.
With Bumgarner departing San Francisco after turning down the qualifying offer, the Giants will acquire a complementary draft choice in the 2020 draft, which adds to a healthy stable of picks that includes compensation received for Will Smith’s departure. The Diamondbacks, meanwhile, will surrender their third-highest draft pick as an additional cost for signing Bumgarner.
Much to the dismay of the San Francisco faithful, Bumgarner will remain the NL West, where he’ll face his former club several times every year. If it’s any consolation, Bumgarner won’t be donning Dodger blue when he makes his return. Still, the $17MM AAV that Bumgarner will earn over the next five years is certainly affordable and calls into question just how hard the Giants pushed to retain Bumgarner, even at a reasonable price. Giants fans can certainly be forgiven if there’s frustration that a franchise icon won’t spend his entire career with the team that drafted him.
Additionally, it’s possible that adding Bumgarner might afford the D-Backs greater freedom to explore trading lefty Robbie Ray, who has by now grown tired of hearing his name rumored in trades. He’s expected to earn just about $11MM in 2020, and with the Bumgarner signing representing another top-flight pitching option flying off the market, there’s a chance that pitcher-needy contenders, growing anxious at the shrinking supply of starters, could be more willing to pony up a shiny return for Ray. Even without Ray, the D-Backs’ starting rotation looks like a point of strength: Bumgarner will join rookie standout Zac Gallen, Luke Weaver, Mike Leake, and Merrill Kelly in the projected opening day rotation. Jon Duplantier and Corbin Martin, acquired in the deal that sent Greinke to Houston, loom as other options to contend for starts.
Why tho?
Yes. I like it. At least he will not play for the Dodgers. He is still young, but Mr. Zaidi did not re-sign him.
What are MadBums numbers in phoenix the past 2 years? High ERA or low? If it is a great pitchers park like San Fran it might be good but if he gets shelled there like he does a lot of places this is a mistake.
Hitters park
3.13 ERA with 1.161 WHIP and 1 HR/9 in AZ over his career. Oddly, not one of his better hitting parks though.
His era away is 5.29 and whip 1.41. Hitters park will not do him any favors.
Good numbers tho
Not a pitchers park.
Again way to miss on this STL
Yeah.. I wasn’t really looking for his career numbers there. I am more interested in his numbers in AZ over the past 2 or 3 years because he is clearly a different pitcher than he was when he started. I guess the obvious thing is that when he pitched in AZ the last couple years he always did it against the anemic D-Backs offense. He won’t have that luxury now. If it’s a hitters park (with no humidity like the San Francisco Bay) this could be bad. I dunno. $17 mill a year is a lot but it’s not even half as much as Strasburg got in AAV so I guess if he is half as good as Strasburg it’s win for the Diamondbacks? Same innings pitched, twice the ERA? Or just half the wins? I don’t see MadBum getting half the WAR.
The diamondbacks offense while not good over the last two years has been roughly in the middle of the league in wrc+ whereas the giants have been 25th and 28th the last two years so he’ll be replacing mediocre for terrible and therefore this contract will work out perfectly with no issues.
Tap the player’s name in the post. A baseball reference page will load. Scroll down and select “Splits”. Select the year that you desire. Scroll down to the “Ballparks” section.
*High five*
It’s Mo. He’s “considering.” And Goold will be turd-polishing tomorrow morning.
Then go look up that info, I suppose.
Weren’t the Cardinals on his no trade list? I didn’t think he would sign with them.
He made his no trade clause list out of teams he wanted to go to. Obviously no bad team, such as the Orioles or Marlins are going to trade prospects for a guy who had 1 year left on his contract, but a contending team would. He made it basically so he had a choice of what good team he wanted to go to.
Starting pitchers are not like position players. You can’t say well how did they do lately on the road. They get 1-2 road games per season at any particular divisional rival.
Bumgarner had 17 starts at Chase Field over a 10 year career. That is the number you need to look at. The stadium hasn’t changed and his ERA is exactly the same at Chase Field as his career averages playing everywhere. His ERA+ is lower at Chase Field than his career averages.
He has 2 starts at Chase Field the last 2 seasons. 5 runs given up over 11 1/3 inning. 3.97 ERA This season he gave up 1 run in 5 IP in May, last season he gave up 4 runs in 6.1 IP in August. Not a big enough sample size to determine anything with certainty. Still right around his performance for the 2 seasons overall.
9 runs in 17 1/3 innings vs arizona at arizona last 2 years, so about a 5.00 era or something close to that
No trade list usually is of teams a player thinks may want to trade for him so the player has leverage to ok the deal and ask for financial reward to approve the trade
ESPN has where you can sort for last 3 seasons, at Chase, era north of 4. Pitched there twice last season 6.1/4runs and 6/4 runs
@koamalu Technically the stadium itself hasn’t changed, but the use of a humidor has been implemented the last 2 years that has seemingly caused it to be less hitter friendly than it used to be. Chase field over the last 2 years is right about 1 for park factor depending on which site you use (yes I know lots of factors involved with a relatively small sample size).
Robbie Ray to StL for one or two of their surplus outfielders. Both teams improve.
Doesn’t matter how he pitched. The park is what it is. A hitters Park. There’s really no denying that.
You’ve got a Cards logo and you like it? You LIKE Mo once again doing nothing, especially at that relatively cheap price, double especially since part of the price is deferred?
SMH.
SocraticGadfly- Don’t be obsessed with a team. Yes, the Cardinals are my favorite team, but I also like other teams. You can like or support other teams too be a fan of baseball. Remember this normally your team will not always win a World Series every year. Oh yes, the Cards have not done anything so far, but relax the market is too high on free agents right now. Believe in Mozeliak. The Cards will sign one or two players at the right time.
It’s easy to spend others money. The Cardinals wasn’t going to sign him because they’re deep in pitching. If they need something at the deadline, they’ll get it.
Its called trying to win!!!
I wonder if the CWS were runner ups?
AGAIN.
Hes an ace. 29 years old. Only 16 mil a year. Hes a workhorse. Plus now they have still 15 mil to get an outfielder. Then ray gets traded for players. Hazen is awesome.
Ace? No. He is a good number 2 or 3 and Ace in playoffs in the past.
Numbers last few years have him a number 3. Which is okay, but the Snakes sure did overpay.
I like madbum and his heart. It’s not a knock but he is not an ace. I think it’s a good depth piece.
He was on a bad team and was injured. The dude is 29. He will be a cy young again easily. How quickly people forget.
Looks like the signing is not for ace numbers. Close to what wheeler got – good deal
He was never a cy young winner, so how can he be again? I would rather have klubot at what Texas gave up and he is an actual Cy young winner.. twice in fact in case you ever like to watch baseball from time to time. It’s fun.
He has never won a Cy Young.. “How quickly people forget?” I suppose you aren’t forgetting anything if you do not know what you are talking about in the first place.
@triber4life
Tough break not selling high on Klubs last year. Enough about the past though, what’ll it take for my Reds to get Lindor?
Yes sorry I thought he won one year when he won 18 games. The point is he will go back to that caliber pitcher.
Yea, no. He will be solid. Probably produce a 3.80 ERA/FIP, but his win total is going to be reliant if the D-Backs give him run support;
Right. Giants never scored for him. I can easily see him pitching to 3.40 era with 19 games won. Diamondbacks are a sneaky good team. This year they will win 90.games
That’s some very hopeful thinking. He is going to be leaving the most pitcher friendly park in 2019 to go to a fairly hitter friendly park. I don’t see him winning 19 games, although that doesn’t really matter. What matters is that a 3.4 ERA is pretty generous considering his home/away splits, as well with his declining performance.
Your homer glasses… wow!
Dbacks, yeah, I forgot he won the Cy young award, what year was that?
keep telling yourself that
so is every pitchers
I would take the under 90 wins for Arizona.
Why do people keep calling guys that have guaranteed spots in a rotation for millions of dollars “depth pieces”?
I think the reds would be a good fit. I think a package centered around India. Maybe santillan in there, Gutierrez. You prob see Siri and Alfredo Garcia names mentioned. I think the reds will not trade Greene or lodola, which I would not either. I think lindor goes to the dodgers though.
Jose Garcia. Dang typo
They just got this guy for less than Ian Kennedy got a few years ago. A number 3… name 60 pitchers you’d rather have in your rotation. People are nuts, this is one of the best value signings I’ve seen in a while. Truly shocked they got him so cheap, I best he wanted to play out there for some particular reason and that he was only strongly considering NL clubs due to batting.
@spinach, I agree at worst Bum is a #2. All these people that want to knock him first he started 34 games last year and had about a dozen bad starts which lifted his ERA. He pitched that many games and innings for the first time in 3 years so building up that strength again.
They differed some of that money so it won’t hurt the team for signing other players.
I really think Zaidi just wants to get rid of all the players that were a part of the old regime and bring in a bunch of mediocre players that won’t question his methods like he did with the managerial job.
He has never won a cy young so yes it was easy to forget
I don’t know why people keep calling him 29. He’s 30.
Not a bad contract, but Bumgarner’s no longer close to an ace. ZIPS and Steamer have him at a ~4.60 ERA/FIP next year.
He’s not an Ace.
Why does anyone post career stats as an evaluation of what the pitcher can do now? Bumgarner didnt perform well in Arizona last year with 3 starts and an ERA of 4.19. It is a small sample size but it’s also in line with his home/road splits for the whole year.
His career splits for Zona actually aren’t that much worse than back at home. baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=bumga…
Again..career stats are not a representation of what a pitcher can do NOW! Look at what he is capable of NOW! The production he gave 4 years ago isnt what he is going to do in 2020.
Uh, that’s 17 million a year…..
ACE? Not even close, not even at his best. He barely broke 5 WAR once in his career.
I disagree, at his best he was an ace. You can toss up all the numbers you like, the results and championships speak for themselves.
He’s 30, not 29
@Dbacks44
His numbers indicate his ace days are long gone and the contract also reflects that. By they way its $17m AAV not $16m
Guys way overpaid!
Limited no trade. Many more years than I expected but with money deferred, I can AZ trading him at some point. Depending on how he’s pitching, it could be for quite a haul.
D’backs hoping for Randy Johnson 2.0
Maybe he likes cacti. That’s cactuses, plural.
at least it isnt the Dodgers. thanks for everything.
Yep. As a Dodger fan I’m glad he’s not a Dodger.
Yeah, we know. You’re only partial to Big Lefties who wet the bed in the playoffs.
I bet he’s also partial to pitchers who don’t wet the bed during the regular season and posters who dont post career numbers as though its a representation of what a pitcher is currently capable of. Maybe you want to check out Bumgarners PRESENT road splits at Arizona?
The one they have now lays giant deuces tho.
Gmen, that made me laugh hard af
Sorry, Mrs. Kershaw, but posters who ask open ended questions about stats that are too lazy to actually look it up on their own will take what they get and like it. Do your own homework, m’am.
LMAO
Pull the wedgy out of your crack sweet cheeks. Nothing was mentioned of stats. All he said was he’s glad buttgammer was not a Dodger. You gnat fans are so sensitive. Lol.
Good thing they’ve traded away all their expensive good pieces for past three years
Just the expensive ones. MadBum gives them a great ace in a very good rotation, they have a good lineup, and a top 5 farm. Future looks good for the D-Backs.
Top 5 farm is a bit of a stretch. It isn’t bad, but more like top 10.
Who needs to worry about the farm when you are bringing back MLB pieces. Hazen nailed the Goldschmidt trade big time and brainwashed the Marlins into giving him Gallen.
Hazen is IMO one of the best GM’s in baseball
Well said. And yes, Hazen sure is doing things smartly and relatively quickly! The Diamondbacks are turning things around while still being competitive this whole time. It’s quite impressive.
Not really a stretch, at the end of last season FanGraphs had them valued as the 5th best farm system. Their ranking is also a lot more likely to change than most, as most of their high ranking prospects are still at the A/A+ Ball level (have the potential to jump into the 55/60 tier of prospects).
He’s not an ace, no matter how much D’back fans try to say otherwise.
@Cam he may not be an “ace” any longer, but he is still a darn good pitcher. He started 34 games last year and without digging through stats he had about 12 games that were rough and those drove his ERA up. diamondbacks got themselves a gamer for a much better deal than philly paid Wheeler.
Hmm.
Dodgers, what the heck?
Wow!
I’d say so. First response is quite simple: good deal.
We will miss you MadBum.
If your a Giants fan he’s in your lore permanently.
AZ has a terrible offense and defense and 5 certified SPs on the roster, but sure ok.
Probably going to be trading Ray
If that’s true, doesn’t it devalue Ray’s trade value? Like, all teams can see they need to drop him, the onus is on AZ not them.
Yes, though taking Bumgarner off the market increases Ray’s value to teams hunting for starters
I don’t think so, probably the opposite. More teams will be in the bidding for Ray now. Higher demand, higher value.
But they don’t NEED to drop him. This is MLB. You can’t have enough starting pitchers. It’s not like Ray is making Greinke dollars or something.
@strike four, it doesn’t devalue him because they don’t have to trade him, they can keep him and move someone else if they wanted to.
Definitely will now, I feel like.
Top 10 in offense,10 5 in defense. How bout you watch some baseball before you comment
In 2019 yes that was true, but I’m talking about 2020. They’ve lost a lot of defense and I don’t think Marte repeats. Just my opinion.
“They’ve lost a lot of defense”
They lost David Peralta. No facts! I’m strike four!
They lost Dyson, Avila and to a lesser extent, Greinke.
Strike Four: All facts. All the time. You hate facts if you hate what I say!
You literally said in the previous comment that it was “just my opinion.” 8 minutes later it’s “All facts. All the time.”
Dude, you are just too much. Appreciate the chuckle though.
How do you have facts for something that has not happened yet. Nice try at backtracking. Give you credit for that, lol
Yeah its almost like one was a joke and one wasnt!
“Are you not entertained?”
His bat might regress, but Marte’s defense has always been one of his strong suits. Plus losing Adam Jones already improves their defense since he was one of their worst defenders in 2019.
Walker was a plus defender last season, (9 DRS), as well as Locastro (2 DRS, 4 in RF) and Rojas (4 DRS). Cron probably isn’t going to be a major contributor next season, and Leyba didn’t even see 50 innings as a fielder last season. I’ll give you Lamb, but with Jones gone, who was one of their worst defenders, it kind of balances out the loss of either Avila or Dyson.
Walker was literally a GG finalist last season. Avila was a part-time player (as was Dyson), Rojas was measured as a positive in the OF (when he’s traditionally an IF), and Locastro was a positive (despite being a converted IF, he’s only getting better with reps). Everybody else listed was part time players. Don’t hate my guy, it’s bad for your health.
Funny how no one is bringing up Nick Ahmed, maybe the best defensive shortstop in baseball.
Most of us were just correcting his asinine claims.
Gold gloves mean nothing.
Yes, because I did not say “every single player on the dbax is a bad defender”. Clown comment bro.
@highheat
Most of you are outing yourselves as people who can’t read. Congrats.
My guy, you are hilarious. For somebody that reads stats and watches so much baseball, you’re pretty uninformed on team rankings and defensive metrics (you know, the metrics that peak earlier in player’s careers and fall off after that). Dyson had less than half the UZR from the season before in CF in double the playing time, but you can guarantee it’s a loss in value for the DBacks next season for not bringing him back? And I shouldn’t need to tell you about the aging curve for C. This will be last comment to you on here, because I’m honestly tired of scrolling through to pick and choose which of your idiotic drivel comments to poke holes in while you sit back and proudly proclaim that you’re spewing facts and personally attack people that don’t agree with your preconceived notions (which are statistically not backed up). Pretty much the only comment you’ve stated that was a fact was that the DBacks lost Dyson, Avila, and Greinke. Sit back and pat back yourself on the back while telling yourself that you’ve won your discussions. Which, mind you, will be as accurate of a statement as all your other “facts”. Have a happy holiday season.
Terrible Defense???
Im talking 2020 not 2019.
Losing Avila, Greinke and Dyson takes them down a lot.
LOL. A pitcher who plays once every five games and fields a couple balls per game hurts their defense that badly? Ok
Avila and Dyson had the highest UZR ratings on the team last year, they are gone now. Numbers mean things.
Avila isn’t a big loss…. They lost Greinke but gained Gallen and now have MadBum (and the prospects from that trade) so not a big loss there, Dysons 1.3 WAR is replaceable….
Avila is a massive loss, what are you talking about? He’s an elite defender.
Cmon dude. Avila is useful, but he’s nowhere near a massive loss.
Fangraphs explicity says there is no true UZR for catchers, so obviously your numbers don’t mean things and fieldint as a catcher means little. Framing and blocking are much more important. SB prevention is much more important. DRS is much more important.
Those are opinions, not fact.
Ya definetly didn’t have 3 gold glove winners and 5 finalists the defense was so bad it was top 5 last year
Im not arguing that they were good last year, but the current roster is nothing special.
They lost 2 backups and a horrible defensive starter how about u watch a baseball game before you comment
I watch more baseball than every poster on here combined, AZ has bad defense as of right now. Pack rat imbeciles on here can’t read.
forget to take your Arrogance medicine? ?
Arizona has one of the best defenses in all of MLB. It’s probably their best team attribute.
Steeee-rike four, yer out!
Yes, in 2019. I am taking 2020.
Their current RF is Josh Rojas. Jake Lamb is terrible and will be seeing major playing time. Stephen Vogt is probably going to be playing a lot. They lost Greinke, Dyson and Avila, three big UZR guys who put the team up the ranks. They are not a good defensive team right now, facts.
Who the heck cares about a pitcher when talking about team defense? Greinke fielded the ball 52 times for Arizona last season. He account for 0.9% of chances for the Diamondbacks last season. Literally non-factor.
@strike four you really don’t take time to look at stats do you? You just say things and think that makes them true. The Diamond Backs scored the 11th most runs during in MLB. That’s not terrible.
Why would Vogt see a lot of playing time? He’s their second catcher behind Kelly who can hold his own both offensively and defensively. Rojas had 4 DRS in the outfield last year. I wouldn’t be too worried about him. Why would Lamb see much playing time? Walker and Escobar have the corners nailed down until further notice, and I doubt they would platoon Lamb with Walker since he not only had reverse splits last year, but is more than capable of playing 1B full time.
Vogt is not going to be playing a lot… ever hear of Carson Kelly? He’s the #1 catcher… and losing Avila is probably a plus for the offense, since his long lost offense made up for any pluses on defense. Locastro has the beginnings to be better than Dyson…. oh and don’t forget the 2-time Gold Glove SS we have too…
@SalaryCapMyth – of course I look at stats. how about you learn to read before getting mad at a thing I never even said?
remember, numbers mean things.
“AZ has a terrible offense and defense and 5 certified SPs on the roster, but sure ok.”
@strike four. Have your thinking cap on little buddy? That comment their with those nifty quotation marks on either side is because I am quoting you. I was thinking you were just some 12 year old child that doesnt know how to socialize but your memory is making me think you’re 85 instead.
Yeah, that Ketel Marte is awful. Carson Kelly sucks. And Eduardo Escobar’s 35 taters were a mirage.
If you’re going to talk smack DO BETTER.
My question to you is: how can you make posts online when you cant even read?
What? Defense is one of the best in the league. Ahmed, Walker, and Peralta all up for GG’s and Marte is solid at CF and 2nd. They’ve been one of the best defenses for a few years now actually. Check fangraphs. Also Marte didn’t just have a good year… he was a consistent .330 AVG 400 OBP and 1.000 OPS the last four months of the year. Even if they don’t trade Ray, (which a part of me believes why would you ever trade a 28 year old 200k pitcher when you trying to win and you already have a boatload of pitching depth and money for years so letting him walk isn’t the end of the world), they’ll have one of the better rotations. They have had one of the better rotations for three years now in baseball. And Weaver and Gallen look great.
Just struggling to see this signing they just got out of the Greinke hiccup and now they are gonna give 100+ to an aging not top of the line starter
Ray is gone. Angels?
Only 5/85 and 15 of that is deferred too
Only 85 million over 5 for madbum
@benny, they just gave a #1 starter (not calling him an ace) #2/3 starter money. dbacks got a bargain.
Can easily say didn’t see this coming
He keeps his horses on a ranch in AZ and wanted to be closer to them. You gotta respect that.
Great deal for them in three years he can probably be dealt for a solid haul if they aren’t playoff material yet
Wow the Diamondbacks? Side note: when it rains it pours, first Kluber goes now MadBum
Yep. And the Angels are missing it all as of now.
Time is running out for the Angels, they need to sign a good pitcher fast!
The Angels were never going to sign MadBum, he want’s to play in the NL, he wanted to hit. Time was running out when Wheeler signed. I’ve been vocal on Wheeler for six weeks.
The problem with Price and Kluber is the Angels can’t count on them to pitch 100 innings. First and foremost, the Angels need a pitcher who can pitch 170 innings. Ryu doesn’t do that either.
I hope they are not dumb enough to add Price.
If someone says “why not the Yankees” I’m gonna flip flip out.
Why not the Yankees?
Why not the Yankees?
I don’t know about you guys but I’m literally just sitting here waiting for him to flip out. It better be worth the wait or else it’s gonna be a big let down.
Why not the Mets?
Can’t see how the Halos couldn’t get Kluber in a clear salary dump and now Madbum going back to the NL…Eppler wake up your job isn’t done yet this offseason and David Price isn’t the answer.
Perhaps the Angels are working on a huge trade that you have no clue about.
That’s been the dream and the hope is Yu and Wilson Contreras but Yu has full no trade clause still. Thor would be a dream come true but the price would be steep.
You’re not getting Contreas for less than 3 players.
No thannks regarding Yu.
Madbum never left the NL
This is the end of an era, and what a glorious era it was. Not many fans can say they’ve witnessed what the average Giants fan has witnessed these past few years with Bumgarner at the top of their rotation.
As a Twins fan. This is getting annoying. Always “in on” the guys. Never execute anything. It’s time to sign a contract for an impact pitcher that you’re not comfortable with. Ryu or bust now. Awesome.
Poor twinkies. Great offense will never get past those yankees unless they get a ace
85 over 5 with 15 deferred……… The Twins have arguably 40+ million to spend. I genuinely don’t understand why we wouldn’t sign him for 5 and 90 with non of it deferred. So frustrating man.
Listen man I’m a twins fan too, but it’s time to wake up and smell the coffee that this team isn’t actually pursuing any big time free agents or trade acquisitions, and never will. Every year they make sure the press knows they’re “kicking the tires”, then guys go affordably elsewhere and we are told that the twins front office “felt like they had solid offers out there but they just couldn’t quite agree on the numbers”. If it’s happened once it’s happened 10 times
I’m done going to games honestly. This offseason has been horrible for twins fans.
As a Sox fan I say hi
Hi!
Lmao the sox can’t even overpay for pitching. Good luck with that 80 win season buddy.
Good luck with another lucky season with a better Sox team breathing down your necks
‘sup!
Twins fan here….. Give us Syndergard goddamn it!
another contract they will regret just like Grienke deal, try to trade him in a few years for nothing just to clear the books a little.
The dbacks got a haul for greinkie from the Astros
They didn’t do too bad with the Greinke deal. Got a great prospect haul. Also – different GM making the call this time. It’s an affordable contract on a 29 year old. Not too bad at all…
Weirdest signing of the hot stove, that’s for sure. Starting pitching isn’t really their problem, and they JUST traded their previous 30 something ace. to get out from under his contrac.t. This one’s probably bigger and this MadBum isn’t as good as Greinke. Well, OK! Maybe they trade a pitcher for a hitter now?
Ray will be traded.
I think the real issue is that Arizona is already a hitters park, and MadBum has (recently) been homer-prone. I’m surprised he wanted to land there. But it’s better (as a Giants fan) that he’s there and NOT the Dodgers.
Mad Bum and wife will have a nice horse farm!
*Mind blown
I wonder the reaction he’ll get back at oracle…
Standing ovation. Giants fans should have nothing against him, especially if Zaidi wasn’t willing to match what’s looking like ~$17M AAV deal.
Better be a standing ovation.
As a dback fan. This is the steal we needed. Next they will get an outfielder. Depending on how much this is. I love it. This guy is a horse and is in his prime.
Could see the Cards trade for Ray and Peralta and send some of their young OF/CF in exchange.
Id be down. Get our two needs out of the way
Makes sense.
Bumgarner has already been in the league for 10 years. He has alot more inning’s in his arm than most 30 year old pitchers. Can he still be effective? Yes. But in his prime? I don’t think so. He’s not the same pitcher he was 5 years ago
If MadBum was still in his prime he would cost double what he is being paid.
not since his motorcycle wreck
Wrong again lol
Lolololololol are the Angels gonna sign any pitching
I believe Matt Harvey is still unsigned…
I think the angels trade for Ray or gray from the Colorado Rockies
Sad day for us Giants fans. He’ll always be a Legend here in SF. Respect, and wish you all the best. Hopefully just not against us. Thank you for staying out of LA.
Easily the biggest surprise of the offseason so far. I would think the D-Backs look to trade Ray now for some big league ready talent
That’s a huge mistake. Going from a pitcher’s park to a hitters park.
Yeah, but just think how many homers Bum will hit now LOL
Do nothing Dodgers strike again.
Wow! As soon as they’re off the hook of Greinke, they add another $20M annual pitcher on a long-term deal.
they made out pretty well in that deal though. if this contract ends the same way then sounds like a good idea.
Not $20m annual. That would be 5/100. If they had to pay that I think they wouldn’t have given it to him. 5/85 seems like a steal for what he was projected
Rick Hahn still snoozing…wake up!
Yes, time for Sox to step up.
In his defense he has stepped up, but nobody wants to go there. I would say the Sox, Brewers, Angels, and Twins are all under the gun to sign a good pitcher.
Ryno, I think you’re pointing your finger at the wrong person. Reinsdork controls the purse. CWS can’t get many people to go there because players know they are a cheap organization. Ownership won’t pay to supplement the rebuild.
You are wrong on that count, they were the hightest bidder for Machado and Wheeler and they went elsewhere!
They should trade Robbie Ray.
Angels need pitching and are desperate.
Ray for Jo Adell is good for both sides.
Adell isn’t going anywhere.
Adell moving in a package with Betts and Price. Betts signs extension with Halos.
The Angels wouldn’t trade Adell for Betts and Price.
Lol why not? Adell has done nothing in the majors yet. Two proven players for someone who could end up never playing more than a season. No player should be untouchable.
Sure it is, lol
No way the Angels trade Adell for Ray. No way!
No.
How about Ray for Schwarber.
tf are the Angels doing? ♂️
very odd offseason
Thank god I can still keep rooting against him… phew
This is the shocker of the off season.
Sad day but probably the best thing in the long, though I do believe the management is pretty much tossing any reason to root for the team for the next several years. Dumping 2 Will Mac award winners in a row in Hundley and Vogt and now one of their icons doesn’t show a lot of love.
We’ll just watch Farhan play merry-go-round with another 50-60 signings and demotions.
I’m hoping it’ll pay off in the long run. He has a track record of building really, really good teams.
Why…
Robbie Ray: see ya
Doesn’t make a lot of sense for the dbacks to make this deal. No denying that they have the need, but this is quite expensive and they just dumped an expensive salary in ZG. If he wasn’t enough of a difference maker for the team, Bum definitely isn’t
Bum will making around half of what Greinke was. With deferrals, this put Bum making around $14M aav.
The Dbacks are going to have a lot of money to spend over the next three offseasons as the farm starts to mature into MLB talent. Other than Marte, Bum, & Escobar(2 years), there are no other long term contracts on the roster.
Will Bum yell at Posey if he hits a HR?
Posey doesn’t hit HRs anymore.
What’s a Posey Homerun ?
Wtf
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!
Quick, swallow an aspirin if you are having an infarction.
An aspirin will do nothing for a heart attack induced by hypertension.
I notice the name change
You killed Padme?
So are the Diamondbacks going to the NLCS or are you changing your username?
Lol! Beat me to it, Purple! As a Braves fan, this pleases me however.
@ NLCS. When you watch Bumgarner get destroyed in Arizona’s hitter friendly park, you’ll be grateful the Braves didnt pick him up. You have no solid reason to believe Bumgarner is what you wish him to be because you have seen all the stats validating what he is now..a no.4 pitcher who is getting paid more than what you should pay someone brought on to help young talent mature.
Saw him crank two opening day dingers in AZ on opening day 2017. Awesome.
Soooo, Price to the Angels?
This would be a surprise considering the Diamondbacks have been shedding veteran salaries the past couple of seasons and are significantly behind the Dodgers talent wise in the NL West. They also have a lot of competition trying to compete for one of the wild card spots. It’s not a surprise to see Madbum staying in the NL but I would have guessed the Braves, Dodgers, Cardinals, Padres or even a return to the Giants as his next destination before the Diamondbacks.
As a White Sox fan I prefere free agent southpaws Hyun-Jin Ryu or Dallas Keuchel at 3-4 years over Madbum at 5, especially with his QO. I also like David from Boston if the Price is right, especially with JD Martinez behind curtain #2!
Totally had him pegged for the Louisville Grays
I don’t like the Giants but really glad he didn’t go to LA. That would’ve turned my baseball world upside down.
Wild move. I thought Braves or Cardinals would have been a better fit for the guy.
I’m guessing Ryu ends up back to the Dodgers and Kuechel goes to the Angels. I think this puts pressure on both teams to make a desperate move. The trade market for pitching should heat up too with the free agent quality drying up.
Can see Ray now going to Yankees for Frazier and P or Cards for Hader and P
I wonder if “MadBum signing equals NLCS” guy will now change his name back to “All of our gods have abandon us” or whatever it was before…
I don’t know who you are referring too!
Yes you do
Hypothetically, if the Twins had signed Bumgarner, would they have made the NLCS? I mean the name sorta implies they’d have been switching leagues.
No, because the Twins still suck with or without Bum. Braves are an ace away from being a championship-caliber team. Too bad we get to see another failure in 2020.
Preach the faith, brother.
200plusk pseudostar
Even the 200k pseudo star could not save the team in 2019. You will see it again in 2020 and beyond until this team spends money on starting pitching.
No it is NOBumgarnerequalsNOnlcs. I went through the comments just to check that
And the Twins continue to sit idly by while starting pitching comes off the board.
Not a done deal.
Just ‘closing in’ on one.
Dodgers strike out again. I honestly am so over this management. Just take out money, continue to raise prices on us and while we show out and spend money they don’t spend money, just McCourt all over, pocketing that money.
Yeah, having the best record in baseball since 2011 must be tough. Such a neglected fan base.
Problem is that they have a good team but they have needs and they are clear needs but they don’t do anything to address those areas of needs. Getting to the playoffs is cool but we haven’t won the World Series since I was 7 years old so yea of course I’m gonna be pissed off. Don’t like it? Don’t give a shit. Kick rocks, I spend my money on them every year and they don’t spend that money to help the team get over the hump.
Careful, if you keep that up you’re going to be called an ingrate or worse. We’re supposed to be grateful they even let us into the stadium to spend our money.
Lol sounds about right. All the damn money I pay on merchandise, tickets and paying just to have time Warner or spectrum now so I can watch the games when I don’t go to the stadium and all this money we give these guys but they can’t spend on top free agents. People always point out our high payroll but it’s mostly on our own players. These guys refuse to make the big trade or the big signing and they tel us they are going to make all these changes to the roster but do nothing. It’s really frustrating. When you look at how much this team makes each year off us fans you’d think they’d want to give back to us and get us that World Series win finally but their seem content with just making the playoffs. It’s a joke. Friedman and company run this team like it’s the rays
We’re stuck with our season tickets this year because they made us pay for them in August but I think we will be bringing our own food to games not buying any beer and leaving early if the game isn’t a good one. How else can we get the message across?
Playoffs every yr and dominate. Sure, the cards haven’t fallen their way in the playoffs. But the playoffs are a lot of luck and variables you can’t control. Like the Nats beating the far superior team in the Astros last yr.
So like…. Zack Wheeler 5 yrs for 118m or MadBum for 5 yrs 85m? Idk… I’d rather have Bum at that price tag.
So no other major free agent is going to get 100 mill, right?
Baseball’s economics are so effed.
Seems like a good deal for the dbacks. A lot of teams missed the boat here
I figured he wasn’t coming back, but I’m still sad.
Over/Under 8 HR’s for MadBum this season?
I’ll take the under but it could be close, balls fly there.
Oddly its one if his worst hitting parks statistically.
The bigger question of course is how many HR’s will he allow? Last year was 30 I believe.
I Gotta go under.. It’ll be fun tho..
That’s it? All the hype of him getting big money and no other team can beat that? Sorry but 5/$85 is a bargain for him and I don’t even think he’s near as good as he made out to be.
The fact that the Giants don’t appear willing to go $15-17M a year for Bumgarner speaks volumes. Hold onto you butts, Giants fans. It’s going to be a bumpy few years.
Obviously, they’re rebuilding. And you don’t sign a pitcher like Bumgarner yr 1 of a rebuild.
My point exactly. Enough with the retooling talk from the front office. Call it what it is, a rebuild.
Five years ago someone would’ve given him real money. Shame.
Bumgarner has already been in the league for 10 years. He has alot more inning’s in his arm than most 30 year old pitchers. Can he still be effective? Yes. But in his prime? I don’t think so. He’s not the same pitcher he was 5 years ago.
Where the heck were the Angels again?!?!?
He’s an NL guy. He likes to hit.
He was never going to the AL.
What are the Angels waiting for?
I think 5 years $85 million is somewhat of a bargain for him. Especially when seeing what some of the others have signed for lately. Wheeler would probably be the closest comparison and he was 5 years $118 million.
I’m surprised a bigger contender didn’t sign him for that price.
As though “at least he didn’t sign with the Dodgers” is supposed to be a consolation. 5 at $85M with $15M deferred. Are you telling me the Gs could not have offered 4 at $85 with $15M deferred? or 3 at $75M with a year 4 option and $10M buyout? This shows what we all knew from the beginning: Zahid had no intention of bringing him back. Good luck in finding a LHP warhorse for the next 3-4 years. And even better luck in bringing back a lot of the G’s faithful who are smarting over Kaplan and the departures of MadBum, Smith, Pillar and Vogt (the latter 3 could have been forgotten had they kept MadBum).
I said the Angels’ big SP addition will be Bundy, I think I was right and I was only half joking.
It’s official Mad Bum to DBacks for 5-$180 – $185… I believe..
**80-85**
Jeff Bomb. Some dark horse candidate strikes
Great move by the D-Backs, he will accelerate their rebuild. This move really hurts the contenders trying to get him like the Twins, Angels, White Sox, and Brewers.
Dammit dodgers. Way to go throwing money at crap and getting the hopes of your fans up!
Reallocating some of that’s Greinke money huh? I like it. Either trade or extend Ray, then sign or trade for an outfielder, and you’ve got a fun offseason — assuming the bullpen either trends upward or some minor signings or trades happen there as well. Romo could be a guy that would fit their budget. Anyway, the Diamondbacks continue to be a fun team that make them easy to root for as a Mariners fan — and I hope this signing helps them that much more to being successful. This new front office is so much better than the previous one too, jeeeeeeeez that must be nice for their true fans.
For a team that missed the playoffs WITH zack grienke pitching. Downgrading to bumgarner won’t help matters.
This I did not see coming. Nice to see him stay in the same division.
Well done Angels.
They never stood a chance. He wants to hit and has made that pretty clear.
#FACT
I think the Angels trade for Ray or gray from the Colorado Rockies
I don’t find this surprising at all. Not making the playoffs in 2019, trade Grienke gain nice prospects. Use money saved to sign Bumgarner to a cheaper deal, back to square one with prospect gain/money savings. Look to contend again in 2020. I still think Grienke to Bumgarner is a downgrade but we’ll see that play out next season. Hopefully bumgarner builds in some no trade protections because it looks like the dbacks will cut bait at any point should they not contend. Not a surprising move, not an earth shattering one either. I don’t really view the diamondbacks as a team taking a big step in the right direction. There were other teams where bumgarner’s presence would have made a much larger impact. Oh well!
what the hell????
Between this and kluber, I was expecting more for these guys.
Why? Kluber is done. What did he do last season besides get shelled when he was healthy, then break his arm and miss the rest of the year. Rangers were the suckers in that deal. Bumgarner got plenty, probably market value for a guy who sits 91-92 with his “heater”.
Well, he and Greinke will make a great pairing. Oh wait a second….
Yeah when they ship him off to Houston for more of the Astros second stringers!
I honestly didn’t want to see him in LA but I’m also losing hope on how the dodgers are going to improve next year..
I don’t get this attitude, why would you be against adding a player that would increase the dodgers chances of winning the fall classic?
Arizona, Florida, and Texas teams always have a massive advantage with the no state sales tax aspect. So there’s that.
AZ has state taxes. They just don’t have an onerous state tax..
Pads blew it!
Wait, the Braves are big market? They better spend more money then
The Braves don’t care about winning, regardless of market size.
He obviously wanted to play in Az. Team doesn’t “need” pitching. Money is under market compared to comps. Several contending teams with big needs for starting pitching should’ve offered more money. I don’t understand this or Kluber deal. Starting pitchers were at a premium, and today’s moves are both puzzling.
Arizona absolutely needed started pitching. The rotation was filled with Ray, players returning from injury, guys who will be limited in the amount of innings they pitch in 2020, two back of the rotation inning eaters, & a bunch of question marks. And Ray was likely to be traded.
If the team wanted to stay competitive in 2020, the rotation was likely going to need to add another 200 quality innings to the rotation after accounting for attrition.
CALLED IT!! wait. no I didnt. nobody did. stupid move
As an Angels fan living in SF pissed they did not sign him. This man has heart and will make all the pitchers on AZ better. Good deal for AZ especially due to the $15 million deferred.
He does love to hit and may be a reason he stayed in the NL.
Hoping Angels deal Marsh for Ray.
Youre assuming he wanted to pitch in the AL let alone The Halos
I’m frankly surprised it was Az and comparatively this low. I thought he was gonna hit the $100mm mark with the way the contracts were going. Nonetheless, I’ve postulated several times that it really seems as thought he Angels are a step behind and missing out as each pitcher goes off the market. I believe their Rendon signing really stifled their willingness to sign pitching, because of of the money. They really don’t seem to have the prospects either for a trade to get the pitching they need.
The Yankees have been tied to Ray over and over so it would be no surprise if they traded some of their pieces to get him. Good signing for Az, imo.
Surprised he went to Arizona although I find the contract to be very fair.
Can’t complain much over the price. Pitchers have received some high salaries. Seems Bumgarner received an appropriate amount compared to the other free agent pitchers who have already signed. Who knows, maybe he’ll improve on his numbers thanks to pitching against San Fran rather than for him. I kid.
Bumgarner
Ray
Gallen
Weaver
Kelly
That isn’t bad and I’m sure I am missing one or two names.
They also have Alex Young & Leake as options. Its a sneaky good rotation.
Young will likely be a BP arm going forward. With the possibility of stepping into the rotation as needed.
Minus Ray, add Leake to the rotation..
Suprising…
In his defense he has stepped up, but nobody wants to go there. I would say the Sox, Brewers, Angels, and Twins are all under the gun to sign a good pitcher.
It’s obvious the bidding for MadBum wasn’t all that significant. The fact that the Dodgers passed shows us that teams did not think much of his future. The disparity between Cole and Strasberg is rather remarkable. Teams will pay huge bucks for what they perceive as value but then the drop off.
Obviously, Arizona grabbed him in the hopes of gaining precious knowledge about the Giants hitters. This might just push them over the edge in the race for the coveted “distant second place” race in the NL West.
Hubcap, that “distant second place” concept is precisely the challenge the other 4 NLW teams are trying to close the gap on. It’s tough to do, but I admire the Dbacks and Padres in particular for not giving up on trying to close that gap. Padres signing Machado last year just wasn’t enough because they still have major flaws on that team. Dbacks are more we’ll rounded, as evidenced by the fact that they did better last year After they traded Greinke than before. They made a significant ripen in the second half of the season. The Dbacks still have flaws, particularly with the OF, but they are planning to fix most of that this off-season. Akiyama and Castellanos aren’t saviors, but they will be (if/when the Dbacks sign them) a significant upgrade from last year (incuding moving Marte back to 2b). They are actively trying and motivated to close that gap. They might not get it all done this off-season, but it’s closing.
BTW, the Dbacks are already in that coveted 2nd place spot!
Weird day. A few very pitching needy teams who want to compete (Padres, Angels, Twins) and both Kluber and Bumgarner go for less than anyone would have thought; both were seemingly very-acquireable for those teams, but they are all just sitting there with their hands in their pockets. Just doesn’t make much sense.
Clubs evidently took a deep breath and weren’t going to panic pay in aftermath of top 3 FA payouts. Keuchel and Ryu may take a hit. BoSox also as far as how much suitors will pay off on Price’s 96 mil contract balance.
True but if I had to bet again, I don’t think Angels will get either. Internally, they will not do what they need to in order to acquire any of these #3 rotation guys left, which leaves them with what they have, and that nullifies any benefit they get from having Rendon.
I think you are wrong Mick. I think Boras, who is much much smarter than Eppler, is going to sting the Angels into paying way too much.
I wanted Wheeler. I knew putting all the eggs in the Cole basket was a bad idea. I wanted Lindbloom. PERFECT for a six man rotation.
I’d like to see the Angels sign Teheran, then wait Boras out and bring in Ryu or Keuchel. Teheran pitches 170+ innings ever year and right now that exactly who the Angels need.
Good deal for MadBum maybe Ray gets traded now
So he gets $70 million + $15 million = $85 million, is that correct?
wow, that’s not bad. figured he’d get well overpaid due to the bidding, but that’s a good price, deferrals or not.
Bumgarner had a small sample size at Chase Field last year. 5.29 era on the road last year. He gave up 19 HR’s pitching at home, pitching in a pitchers park. last year Based on last year he looks like he is in decline.
Projections for ERA and FIP, both roughly 4.5 and WAR 2.1, I’d say you’re right.
Not a bad deal for 85mil over 5 years with 15mil deferred. His arm will probably fall off by that 5th year but I think there’s some value there at 17 or 18mil per.
Didn’t even offer him their regular ol 5 for 90 mil like Samardzjia and Pence got. Regime change in effect.
Ya know, the D-Backs were only 4 games out of the Wild Card…. a bloop hit here, a groundball there, a MadBum there……people are treating this deal as if the Royals had signed MadBum.
When you’re bright guys like they are in Arizona, yes, you trade a Goldy and a Grenkie when circumstances dictate, and sign a MadBum when they change. You shuffle the deck until your talent is equal to your payroll allocation; and then you adjust on the fly.
If MLB had insisted EVERY team operated like the Snakes do, you’d see about half the malaise that’s eroding the sport.
Well said
Y’know, if I could have a few minutes to adjust some of my predictions in the free agent contest, I could do a LOT better than I have been…
Chase field is no long a hitter’s park. Since the adding of a humidor, the ballpark has played neutral. Small sample size of two years, but so far that is what the results have shown.
Personally, I wish he had remained in SF. I am relieved he’s not coming to LA.
My sense is that a pitcher already in decline, now moving from an extreme pitcher’s park to a neutral or hitter’s park will have some significant challenges ahead.
Better than paying 123 for Wheeler
while im not surprised about the deal, every team is overpaying for pitchers, im surprised about the team, wouldnt he want to go to team thats better? Arizona wasn’t even close to the playoffs last year, oh well. THANK you to, as a red sox fan, you just made david price going to the angels or padres much more hopeful
But, would he have gone to a better team? Realistically, it may have been that either the years or money aren’t there from the other teams; and the Angels are apparently out on anyone with the positional designation of SP. the article says he speculated there may have been bigger offers. And I think he has horses and property in Az
85 wins & 4 games out from the WC isn’t close to the playoffs?
Okay….
Actually, Amanda, the Dbacks won 85 games last year, were in the playoff hunt until mid-Sept., and are trying, starting with this signing, to close the gap on the Dodgers to challenge for the NLW crown. They have two huge signings to go this off-season if they are to challenge the Dodgers, and even then many things must go right and few go really wrong. They have only 1 outfielder, so must acquire a CF and RF. They also need one more back-end of the bullpen piece.
Solid signing by the DBacks. I really thought he was going to Atlanta, though. That would have been a really solid pick up for them.
Pretty sure most people pegged ATL first. I know I did.
Christmas came early
I’m not sure why the Padres were not involved. Great pitcher to have on a young staff, a pitchers park and in the NL where he wants to play. It seems like a great fit.
Any signing is better than no signing or tanking. At least they are trying to do something. Since MadBum is going at 17 m annual value, my projection for Ryu is definitely lower now at 4 yr, 80-85 m range.
Weirdest move to date
MadBum has enough rings and doesn’t want anymore so this time he wants a new HumVee, a new Harley Trike, and a new gold chain.
HaHa! Dbacks put a clause in his contract prohibiting those high risk behaviors!
Most commenters here have very little to no idea who the Dbacks are, nor what to expect from them this off-season. They have $30M to spend now, and if they trade Robbie Ray, they will have $40M to spend. They were Not going to spend all of that on one player, so they weren’t in on the Top 4 free agents. But once those big ticket guys were gone, the Dbacks became one of the favorites for this next tier of top free agents. No one should have been surprised that they went after and got MadBum. They also have a Top 5 prospect system they are willing to trade from, so they are a force in the trade market too.
Expect the Dbacks to sign one or two of the next highest ranked OF. Probably Castellanos, but maybe Ozuna. They are also likely to sign or trade for Akiyama, Starling Marte or Ramon Laureano. After that, they still have the money and prospects to go after a closer, like Ken Giles for example.
well I see a lot of complaints about signing Mad.
he is actually pretty damn epic.
I am following him.to the Dbacks after growing up a giants fan
I know nothing about DBacks but I am excited to get to know
a new team.
Wow, you must really like him to change teams. That’s a huge jump. But, to each his own, no judgement here.
If he is a Giants fan and knows nothing about another team in their division, he clearly isn’t much of a fan.
To “Balk” and the rest of the Giants fans who swore up and down that Bumgarner would never even think of leaving: Now do you see why they should have traded him? Could have gotten a top 100 prospect for a guy who Farhan clearly had no intention of paying to stay in SF. Hope you like that draft pick!
I wouldn’t be surprised if Bummy spurned a better offer from the Giants.. I can’t believe no one offered him 3/70 or 4/80. I thought he’d get 5/110.
Ryu back to the Dodgers confirmed.
That was my pick! Thumbs up emoji
Could be but last we heard the Dodgers weren’t even in touch with Ryu. A little difficult to sign a player when you aren’t even talking to him.
Thank you for calling ATL a “big market” team. Now they need to act like it.
Wow, why the D-backs lol no one else offered higher than $17 mil a year . The freaking Mets just saved themselves almost $20 mil they should’ve gotten him then traded Stroman and Matz for RP’s.
Your starting pitching options are running out White Sox. Quit sitting on your hands.
Yeah with the way they started the offseason in thought for sure they were gonna nab one of these guys. Wonder why they’re stalling out.
Maybe because Zack Wheeler and his fiancee preferred the Phillies over the White Sox due to geography. Perhaps because Madison Bumgarner prefers his horses in Arizona over the ‘L’ trains in Chicago.
It’s been widely reported that the White Sox offered Wheeler $125MM to the Phillies $118MM over the same 5 year length. It’s not yet known if the White Sox offered Madbum a contract but reports have suggested he had some offers higher than the Diamondbacks but Arizona was his top destination if they agreed to add a 5th year.
The White Sox still have FA southpaws Hyun-Jin Ryu and Dallas Keuchel available to them along with some trade options including one that has them linked to David Price. They will sign or trade for at least one significant veteran starting pitcher when all is said and done, potentially two.
The Sox aren’t getting anybody.
Sox should just walk away now. They got lucky when Wheeler took the Phillies offer. For what they are trying to do Keuchel and Ryu are a waste of money and Price is worse than that. Hopefully someone they already have steps up.
White Sox fans need to take a deep breath and realize today was still a good day for their beloved with Corey Kluber now out of Cleveland and the AL Central.
Yeah, that’s a very good point about Klubot even though he’s not what he once was. I’m neutral on the South Siders, just seems like are really making some moves to try and compete. Nevertheless, not sure if they’ll be able to pry Ryu away from the west, but maybe Dallas? Also, they do have some really impressive young arms developing.
All Cleveland trading Kluber means to Sox is now they won’t have to spend anymore money.. Bad day not getting Bumgarner.
E Rosario to AZ in Ray deal, joins old teammate Escobar to combine for 70 bombs next year..
Not if MLB changes the baseball away from the 2019 version. I don’t buy any players’ over-inflated HR numbers from 2019.
Just.Wow. The Diamondbacks?
MLB.Package.Cancelled.
Mr. Bumgarner, Thank you for the memories in San Francisco. I wish you well in Arizona and we will definitely be cheering for you when you’re on the mound.
Congrats Arizona, you’re getting one hell of a competitor. I hope you make the playoffs in 2020.
It’s pretty clear that very few of the those replying watch the Snakes or follow them on a daily basis. Hazen is one of the better GMs in all of the MLB. He has done a tremendous job reshaping the team on the fly. Absolutely astute move on tremendous terms. It is unlikely that they overtake the death star in the division, but they absolutely are in the WC hunt. Let’s see what he can move Ray for (Rosario? Larnach?)…take care of the OF improve the pen and see where they stand.
As a Yankees fan I don’t see a lot of Diamondback games, but Yanks have been frequently mentioned in connection with Ray. As a D-Backs fan, you think that will happen and for who in return?
The Mick7, always loved Mantle and always respectfully hated the Yankees. Good question. I think the odds on getting Ray went down somewhat when the Yankees signed Cole, in the sense that the Yankees aren’t as motivated to get Ray now, although I do think Ray could upgrade your rotation. Despite his flaws, Ray has elite strikeout numbers. A trade is still possible and the teams match up fairly well—Dbacks need OF and Yankees have a bit of excess. Dbacks next priorities are CF and corner OF, in that order. Yankees don’t have a CF to offer, but they do have Frazier and the Dbacks might drink the koolaid on him. I personally think Frazier is overhyped, which often happens with Yankee and Red Sox prospects, but I’m not the Dbacks GM, so it’s possible. GM Hazen is too smart to settle for hype and laser focused on what the Dbacks need. Until the MadBum signing, he would have gone for young, controllable pitching, but now it’s young, controllable OF.
Thanks for the articulate and informative response! Yeah, that’s kind of what I was afraid of because Frazier is overrated, but I think teams are starting to realize that. I also believe he could help the rotation, so I guess time will tell. Thanks again!
This idea of signing big name pitchers to deals they think they will live up to is interesting. The Greinke deal netted them an awesome prospect haul and now they have a replacement for Greinke and Duplantier. etc. I think this team is immensely better than it was this time last year.
Someone said after last season ended that some giants free agents were going to wait and see who was named SF manager before making a decision on where to sign. Maybe this was a factor on Bumgarner’s decision. If not, the Giants didn’t try hard to keep him. This is a guy who is going to bounce back. After 2017-18, he showed he’s back on track. The injuries were not serious and he is young. Ticket sales will drop even more in SF. Even with the rebuilding, they should have tried harder to keep him. They gave Gausman 9 million. A rotation of righties. Now he will be playing for a real good young manager ( Lovullo) and a very good hitting team. You don’t rebuild with a manager like Kapler.
sf fan- nice post, interesting
I love reading things like “why AZ isn’t that good” because it tells me right away that the person is not worth arguing with. Bumgarner, Ray, Weaver, and Gallen, plus Leake, Young, Duplantier, Kelley, and Martin (probably out 2019) is great depth AND Guerra has started games. If they trade Ray, they’ll get good pieces back. I read someone said Dbacks defense is terrible? They’ve been one the best defensive teams in baseball the last four years? Oh and Ketel Marte was arguably the best hitter in baseball the last four months of the season. Check the monthly splits. Two years in a row the Dbacks were in the wild card spot or a game out of it on September 1. Unfortunately two straight horrible September’s (And a terrible 2018 of May) have been their downfall. It’s a solid team. And they have some more money to spend AND after this year they can dump Tomas’s 16mil. AND they have a good farm system.
They’re good. Not great.
Does anyone even mention that this guy has been underpaid for a long time.. cueto and samardjia got huge deals… but the guy that got you there.. homegrown doesn’t deserve the pay? See this is why a rebuild doesn’t work.. yes it worked for Kc and they stink… it worked for Houston… but now we know how. Consistent winners pay.. wake up
Awesome!Giants now have the 78th best player in the 2020 draft! Like seeing your girlfriend start dating a guy drooling on himself.
Good luck pitching in that bandbox in AZ.
I’m going on a boycott of the Giants this season. Madbum was one of the few players left on the team that made them interesting to watch still. The team has plenty of space under the cap to have kept him… now we get a lottery ticket in the supplemental round that may or may not pan out. I guarantee they aren’t lowering the cost of beer or giving fans a break on the $35 parking…
Maybe this makes me old (41), but I hate the direction that baseball has gone the last few years with sabermetrics and everyone going for a strikeout or home run mentality. In their effort to attract new fans (which they aren’t), baseball is alienating all of the traditional baseball fans. The day that soccer is more popular than baseball in the U.S. is the day I hope to have a heart attack.
100% agreed, and I’m only 32 so your age is not a factor. The Giants are just not the team I grew up adoring anymore, and seem to take every chance they can get to run it into the ground. I love Buster and will still root for him, but otherwise I need a year off, at least. This team is just not the same, and it’s become an abusive relationship that I’m finally just done with. We had a good run, but the Giants FO has ruined it entirely, all in the name of profit.
Meh… those Giants teams were underwhelming anyway. A couple sign stealing wild card teams, with a roster full of dogs who couldn’t hit the broadside of a barn otherwise. They made the mobsters rich.
Um why
This contract for Bumgarner and the contract for Wheeler are going to be a good test case for determining if you should be paying for the guy with a proven track record in the past, or pay for the guy that you have used analytics combined with his unfulfilled lifetime expectations to project (hoped for) future performance that might be better than the past track record of performance.
Stay tuned to see who made the better decision between the D-Backs and the Phillies.
Muy mala negociación por parte del agente de Bumgarner y del mismo Bumgarner por aceptarla¨.
3 Campeonatos siendo MVP de la serie mundial y de la serie de campeonato del 2014 y parte importante de las otras 2, mas 4 veces en el top 10 para CY Y una vez en 11, con solo 30 años y 7 veces mas de 200 innings lanzados.
Como es que Wheeler, un lanzador full de lesiones y que logró por primera vez 200 innings y que no ha demostrado nada, ganará 20 millones y Bumgarner 17 ?
Una Locura……..
Raulito…….los equipos no pagan para el pasado en relacion a MadBum. Ellos le gustan la “potencial” de Wheeler durar y tiene cumplimiento mejor en el futuro.
After this was announced, you could hear Scott Boras scream an F bomb about 20 miles away. It’ll be interesting to see what Keuchel’s deal will now be…
“Go get it out of the pool” -Max Muncy 2020 to Madison Bumgarner, probably
Dodgers choking in 2020, fact.
Zaidi knows something and wouldn’t let him go if Mad was 100% healthy..
He is a league average pitcher at this point, a number 3. He gets hit hard, and doesn’t strike out batters or get enough swing and misses anymore. That’s why Zaidi let him go. He is not the same pitcher who won 3 world series.
Not that it matters much, but Bumgarner traded one of, if not, the nicest uniform in MLB for, hands down, the ugliest uniform in MLB…
How long before the dbak trade him?
Next year
There is a lot of open land in Az. Also, Bumgarner does a cattle drive from his ranch to Az every October. Makes a lot of sense for a guy who wasnt chasing money.
Interesting fact: Per Ken Rosenthal, MadBum will make the same after taxes on this deal as he would on a 5/100 deal in California.
Should be convenient for MadBum when he ends up on the IL for six months. Lots of free time to ride horses and motorcycles.
Gosh that uni is ugly
The Padres give them some competition but yes the worst…..
Only $6M salary in 2020! That means the Dbacks have $24M left to get a CF, RF and Closer! And if they trade Robbie Ray and his $10.8M projected salary, they’ll have almost $35M per year to spend on those 3 positions.
Dbacks will sign either Castellanos or Ozuna for RF, Akiyama for CF and trade for either Ken Giles or Osuna from the Astros.
Dbacks are rapidly closing the gap on the Dodgers! They are not there yet, but definitely will be a front runner for a WC spot this year.
“Bumgarner may have had larger offers on the table, but the geographic attraction of Arizona placed the Diamondbacks atop his list.” And that is why, as a Twins fan, I didn’t have much hope of him coming to Minnesota.
A few horrendous starts can greatly skew a starter’s avgs & that was certainly the case in both MadBum & Kuechel. If you look at their full body of work, MadBum had 15 dominant starts, 6 more quality starts, & 5 more winnable starts. That’s 26 winnable starts out of 34.
The SFG won 18. Considering the DBacks had a respectable run differential & the SFG had one of the worst, the DBacks with MadBum in their rotation likely would’ve won 24 of his 34 starts. There’s no question he can still dominate a game & we know he thrives in the playoffs.
He loves to hit so I don’t think AL teams were considered much. He greatly improved his swing in 2014 & won 2 siliver slugger awards. He avg’d .234/.284/.459 from 2014-2016,
Considering what CWS got out of the 9th spot over the last 5 yrs, I would’ve offered him that. In ARI, those numbers could improve.
Kuechel just had 21 starts last year. He did better than all but Giolito in comparison to the
CWS rotation. He had 12 dominant starts & 3 more quality ones. He had 6 starts that were not winnable. The big difference between him & MadBum outside of PA is ip. DK rarely pitched into the 7th. MadBum had at least a dozen starts of 7 ip or more.
I wanted MadBum on the CWS, but now I just hope they can at least land DK.