I could spend a bunch of time talking about whether Madison Bumgarner will be available or not. We could hypothesize whether the San Francisco Giants will fall out of the playoff race.
BUT... I’d really like to focus on realistic trades for Bumgarner IF he’s available at the trade deadline.
So, here’s a few quick stats. Then we’ll dive into what an ACTUAL TRADE might look like.
Bumgarner’s career stats:
WAR - 31.7
Wins - 104
Losses - 76
ERA - 3.01
He’s a four-time All-Star. A three-time World Series champion. And a two-time silver slugger. Not a bad hitter for a pitcher, if that matters to anyone.
He has a 0.25 ERA in the World Series with five games pitched. Four as the starting pitcher. A total of 36 innings pitched with an ERA of 0.25. I know I repeated myself, but it’s important. That’s a World Series record for ERA! He was named the World Series MVP in 2014 — and you could argue that the San Francisco Giants don’t defeat the Royals that year without him. He was clutch — he was dominant. The postseason runs through his veins. When the pressure is on, he steps up fearlessly.
That’s the player you should want if you’re the Yankees. There’s a window right now for the Yankees to win, those windows don’t last forever. They need to capitalize on it...
What would it take to get Madison Bumgarner?
It’s gonna take more than what it took to get Sonny Gray from the Oakland Athletics, who was traded for a package of Dustin Fowler, Jorge Mateo, and James Kaprielian.
Bumgarner would require the Yankees to likely give up at least two top-tier and two second-tier prospects.
A lot of fans like to throw Chance Adams around — but deep down they know how low his stock has fallen. I’m not even sure he could be used as a throw-in. Though, he could always turn things around as he showed in his last start where he struck out 10 batters in seven scoreless innings. Still, he may be the guy for a different trade, if they trade him.
Trade Proposal #1
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner.
Giants get: Estevan Florial, Justus Sheffield, Domingo Acevedo, Freicer Perez.
Trade Proposal #2
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner
Trade Proposal #3
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner
Giants get: Clint Frazier, Albert Abreu, Luis Medina, Freicer Perez.
Trade Proposal #4
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner
Giants get: Estevan Florial, Tyler Wade, Domingo Acevedo, Freicer Perez.
Trade Proposal #5
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner
Giants get: Justus Sheffield, Billy McKinney, Domingo Acevedo, Albert Abreu.
Bonus Trade Proposal #6 with three prospects:
Yankees get: Madison Bumgarner
Giants get: Justus Sheffield, Clint Frazier, Albert Abreu.
Florial may be off limits — he may be the Yankees CF of the future. Many scouts rave about his possibilities as a 30-30 or even a 40-40 player.
The Yankees view Luis Medina as a player with Luis Severino possibilities. Yankees VP of Baseball Operations, Tim Naehring, has spoken highly of him. I get the feeling that they like his potential. He easily throws 100 mph with solid mechanics. He recently turned 19 and is expected to be at Low-A Charleston soon. He could be 2-4 years from the majors, but the talent and ceiling is there.
There’s a lot of names on here I really like, and don’t want to trade. But sacrifices are necessary to get a guy with a proven postseason track record like Madison Bumgarner.
Let me know which trades you’d accept or reject. With your reasoning behind it. Remember, I wouldn’t be happy about giving up some of these prospects, but I’m deeming a sacrifice necessary.
Will they have to give up Florial? Sheffield? Both? Neither?
Play GM for the New York Yankees. Play GM for the San Francisco Giants. What would you want to make your team better for the future? Keep in mind, Bumgarner will turn 29 on August 1. He has a club option for 12 million next season.
