In an offseason that could finally see this team break the mold and actually spend big money, there may end up being an interesting pairing this offseason between a budding franchise and a long-dominant starting pitcher: the Atlanta Braves and Madison Bumgarner. With the former San Francisco Giants left-hander entering free agency and looking to cash in for what could be the final time of his career, the Braves present an intriguing opportunity for MadBum to make his way back to the postseason yet again.

Reported by Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area, Bum would represent a great upgrade for a Braves team that looks to be a few starting pitchers away from helping represent the National League in the World Series on a regular basis. Having looked into his availability at this past season’s trade deadline, the Braves are said to be dedicating the vast majority of their assets towards signing Bumgarner right away this winter, trying to make sure that he does not have ample time to talk to other franchises who may want to sign him as well.

Ranked as the second-worst team to make the playoffs, ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers, in terms of innings pitched and ERA for their starting rotation, the Braves are looking to address a big hole on their staff with one of the market’s best free agents, which is exactly the move a contending team that understand what it is missing would do.

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Bum would immediately upgrade this team in both of those areas, as his 34 starts and 207.2 innings would have easily placed him ahead of all starting pitchers for the Braves this past season, showing that while Bum is getting older, his durability still remains as solid as ever.

With reports of tampering coming out involving comments made by the Braves’ General Manager Alex Anthopoulos, their expensive foray into free agency may be hindered a bit by the MLB Players Association investigation, which is most likely going to start at some point. But with this team on the cusp of becoming a regular division winner and pennant competitor, going after Bum may be enough to keep the front office occupied this winter.