SAN FRANCISCO — For the first time in his career, Madison Bumgarner is a free agent.
He’s already turned down the Giants’ first offer to return to San Francisco, leaving fans to wonder if the franchise will make a more serious effort to bring him back to the club.
Bumgarner officially rejected a one-year, $17.8 million qualifying offer on Thursday to remain in a high-profile class of free agent starting pitchers that includes World Series standouts Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg.
After retaining Bumgarner at the trade deadline, there was no question the Giants would extend Bumgarner a qualifying offer, which is a measure in place in Major League Baseball that allows teams to recover a compensatory draft pick for losing a valued player in free agency.
When the Giants gave Bumgarner the offer to return on a one-year deal, there was also no doubt the left-hander would decline it.
Bumgarner has had his sights set on entering free agency for a long time and is curious to see which teams court him now that he’s no longer a member of the Giants rotation. A qualifying offer was never going to deter Bumgarner from testing the market, but his rejection shouldn’t prevent the Giants from entertaining the idea of re-signing him this offseason.
The Giants have two veteran starters, Johnny Cueto and Jeff Samardzija, under contract for the 2020 season, but Samardzija is a trade candidate and Cueto remains a question mark after missing nearly all of 2019 while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
How the Giants plan to build out the rest of their rotation remains unclear, but the organization is counting on right-handers Tyler Beede and Logan Webb to take the next step forward in their development. The waiver claim addition of Tyler Anderson, a former Rockies starter, adds depth to the group and it’s possible Shaun Anderson will be given another opportunity to win a spot in the rotation after ending last season in the Giants bullpen.
What’s obvious at this point of the offseason is the Giants need to target pitchers, either through trades or free agency, who can be penciled in to deliver quality starts and shield innings from a bullpen that’s expected to feature a large group of inexperienced arms.
That’s why Bumgarner, who finished second in the National League with 207 2/3 innings this year, should be a realistic target for the Giants this offseason. Even if the left-hander didn’t have 10 years of experience in a Giants uniform and a storied postseason history with the franchise, he might be the starter who makes the most sense to pursue anyway.
Competition for Bumgarner’s services is expected to be intense as the Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres and New York Yankees are among the teams that have already been linked to the veteran starter. The Braves are the closest team to Bumgarner’s North Carolina home and he’s expressed interest in finding a club that’s ready to win right away.
The Giants, barring a substantial roster overhaul this offseason, are not that team.
What the Giants have that many other teams in baseball have indicated they don’t is the payroll space to add a player or two who will earn $20-to-$25 million per year. Despite having several bad contracts on the books already, the Giants gained some financial flexibility with the July 31 trade of Mark Melancon and the decision of closer Will Smith to reject a qualifying offer on Thursday so he could sign with the Atlanta Braves.
After the franchise made Derek Holland its highest-paid free agent signee last offseason, there’s an expectation from the Giants’ fan base that the team is once again ready to start building for the future through higher-profile external acquisitions. It may not make sense for the Giants to offer a pitcher such as Cole $300 million, but president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi can’t sit back and hope a couple of veteran starters willing to take one-year deals will energize the team and its fans.
Don’t expect the Giants to tip their hand, but do expect them to monitor Bumgarner’s market closely.
If another team comes in and matches the six-year, $140 million offer Patrick Corbin received from the Nationals last year, then it’s unlikely the Giants will bring Bumgarner back to San Francisco. But if the market suggests Bumgarner can be signed at a more reasonable price, the Giants will be ready to negotiate.
