Gerrit Cole and Stephen Strasburg may be the two biggest fish available on the starting pitching market this offseason, but let's not forget Madison Bumgarner, a wily left-handed veteran who has more playoff chops than both Cole and Strasburg combined.
While the New York Yankees are expected to be in on both Cole and Strasburg this winter, general manager Brian Cashman says that the team will also be looking at Bumgarner:
“I will definitely talk to Bumgarner’s agency,” Cashman told John Shea of The San Francisco Chronicle at the GM meetings. “I haven’t. But I will.”
Bumgarner came up with the San Francisco Giants in 2009 and has been a member of the club ever since, helping the Giants win three World Series championships.
However, lately, more and more momentum seems to be building toward the 30-year-old leaving the only MLB organization he has ever known, and the Yankees will be one of the teams trying to snatch him up.
“He’s been a tremendous player for a long time,” added Cashman. “We’re going to look at everybody that’s out there, obviously. Starting pitching is important, and he’s been one of the game’s better starting pitchers for a long time. So we’ll certainly have a conversation.”
New York would be crazy not to look Bumgarner's way.
Bumgarner owns a lifetime ERA of 3.13, and over the course of 16 playoff outings and 14 starts, he has gone 8-3 with a 2.11 ERA, including going 4-0 with a minuscule 0.25 ERA in the World Series.
Given that starting pitching has been a major need for the Yanks for several years running, it does not come as any surprise that Cashman may be looking at Bumgarner in the coming weeks.
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