Thoughts on Madison Bumgarner and the Giants Offseason(So Far)

Yesterday, we had several follow up comments regarding my post about the Giants signing Darren Ruf.  LG, whose thoughtful comments I always appreciate, mentioned he isn't sure how I feel about the Giants failure to re-up Madison Bumgarner, losing him to a division rival.  So let's circle back to this issue and see if we can come to terms with it and move on.  First of all, I just want to say a big part of why I write this blog is to have fun.  I don't do it for money, that's for sure!  BTW, I think time is proving that money corrupts blogs just like everything else, but that's all I'm going to say about that!  In the spirit of having fun, I will sometimes bust out my ironic, slightly off-kilter sense of humor.  So, I might whack the bees nest with a stick or pull the tiger's tail once in awhile just to see what mayhem it might cause.  I also try to write with some nuance and try very hard to not see things as either/or or black and white.  I don't happen to think Bobby Evans was as bad as he's made out to be in some corners, and I think it remains to be seen if Farhan Zaidi is the all-knowing genius some seem to think.  That doesn't mean everything Bobby Evans did was great or that Zaidi has not made some impressive moves since taking over as GM.

With that out of the way, what do I think of the Madison Bumgarner situation?  For my initial reaction, I will call your attention to my post from Sunday, December 15, 2019 entitled Hot Stove Update:  A Giants Legend Moves On.  If you are interested enough, you can go look it up for yourself, but here are a couple of key excerpts:  1.  "So yeah, it's a sad day.  What makes it harder to swallow is the contract he ultimately signed seems to be well within the Giants budgetary constraints and within the performance levels he can reasonably be expected to produce the next 5 seasons......In short, re-signing Bummy.....would not halt or delay any 'rebuild' in any way shape or form.  OK, maybe the extra draft pick turns into a Hall of Famer, but it's highly unlikely."  2.  "On the other hand, I am not going to lead the 'fire Farhan' charge over this.  Bummy has a ton of mileage on his arm and large longterm contracts haven't exactly worked out well for the Giants over the past decade, so I understand the argument for letting him go.  I've made it myself!"  And here's one more key thought: "Hopefully Farhan.....will re-allocate money that might have been used to sign Bummy to other good things."

Since I wrote that post, it's come out that the die may have been cast on Bumgarner leaving a long time ago, and it all makes perfect sense.  Giants management was reportedly preparing an extension  when the infamous dirt bike caper happened.  It may have been interrupted again by the fractured hand the following spring.  It seems like maybe the Giants top management, all the way up to ownership level, lost some trust in Bummy over the dirt bike thing.  For his part, Bummy did not think  pulling back on the extension was fair to him.  In this regard, I have to say my sympathies are more with management, and we really can't blame Farhan for any of that.  On top of all that, it also came out that the Bumgarners own a horse ranch outside of Scottsdale, AZ and Bum had a dream of being able to live there when his team played at home.  Well then, there's not much Farhan Zaidi can do about that either!

So, where does that leave us and where do we go from here?  Some folks seem to want to paint this as a choice between the future and the past, between rebuilding or reshuffling the deck and doubling down on a bad hand.  I believe that is a false choice.  The Giants have the resources to compete now and rebuild.  They don't have to "tank" until 2022, when most of the "bad" contracts will be finished.  There are more ways than one to accomplish these dual goals of competing now and building an organization for sustained competitiveness.  They can continue to churn the roster at the margins and use the power of chance to uncover a breakout player or two while accelerating development of the farm system. That seems to be Farhan's major MO, so far although we must remember the Hot Stove is still burning out there.  They can also sign free agents whose market is distressed for some reason to short term contracts that can be easily traded or jettisoned.  Farhan seems to be active in the market for these too.

Lastly, a big longterm contract for a "franchise player" is not antithetical to a rebuild.  These contracts are typically for 5-7 years.  If Farhan can't have this team back in the playoffs within 5 years, then why is he the GM?  So, if one of those players is available and you have the financial resources to sign them, by all means, make that part of the rebuild!  Having said that, I recognize you have to be careful who you give those contracts to.  A few years ago, a lot of folks thought the answer was to re-sign your own homegrown players.  Well, how has that worked out for the Giants?  The one guy in this year's market who I think deserved that "franchise" label and contract was Gerrit Cole.  Unfortunately, I think he had his heart set on playing for the Yankees and the Yankees wanted him as much as he wanted them, so no chance for the Giants there.  As for the other market options, I'll save that for another post I am ruminating on about dilemmas and conundrums in roster building.  Stay tuned!

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So, the first comment I get here is an example of why I am reluctant to publish comments when I disagree with the premise of the comment and am not able to rebut within the comment sections.  I do not accept the premise that this team is currently hopelessly out of contention.  Yes, they appear to be as of this moment and with this roster, but what if you add an ace SP, a cleanup level bat in the OF and a reliable Closer?  That team might not be likely to win the division, but it could contend for a playoff spot and we all know what can happen once you are in the postseason.  Those pieces are, or were, available on the FA/trade market this cycle, or we might all be pleasantly surprised to find one or two from within the organization and/or Churn.

But yeah, a word of warning.  I will not publish any more comments premised on the notion that the Giants should not try to compete because they are non-competitive.  Just stop!  If you fervently believe that, fine, but you can take those comments somewhere else because I don't have the time, patience or energy to keep on rebutting them after every post and I'm not going to let them hijack the blog.