Madison Bumgarner's time with the Arizona Diamondbacks was over well before it officially ended at the start of the 2023 season. The former World Series MVP tried to revitalize his career after moving on from the San Francisco Giants but to no avail.
Bumgarner and the Diamondbacks were done with each other due mostly to a lack of trust, according to Zach Buchanan of The Athletic. The relationship first fractured two years ago over an incident with pitching strategist and three-time MLB All-Star Dan Haren.
In 2021, when discussing what had changed for him after a string of great performances, Bumgarner said that a big part of it came from not going with the team's pitching plans. “That ended whatever relationship the pair had, and sources say the two didn’t speak to each other for the rest of Bumgarner’s time with the team, a span of almost two years. From then on, even as Haren worked closely with the team’s other starters, all game-planning information for Bumgarner was run through the Diamondbacks’ catchers,” Buchanan writes.
Diamondbacks staffers were often frustrated with Bumgarner, Buchanan reported, and sometimes he would catch wind of it. Bumgarner has been known as having a personality that can be abrasive at times. As someone who is very set in his way, the four-time All-Star has had beef with plenty of people throughout his career.
While Madison Bumgarner allowing 19 earned runs in 16.2 innings in 2023 is a sign that his best days are well behind him, some teams could find some use for the 33-year-old as an end-of-rotation or bullpen arm. That is, if he is willing to buy into their philosophy.
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