San Francisco Giants: How to approach Madison Bumgarner’s free agency

Kyle Foster

If I was Farhan Zaidi, I’d approach the Madison Bumgarner situation very carefully because of how much he means to the organization.

At the same time, Zaidi was brought in to build a winner, not to make the fans happy. If losing Bumgarner means taking another step toward accomplishing that goal, that’s fine by me. At the end of the day, baseball is still a business.

If Bumgarner were to walk on his own, it really could end up being a blessing in disguise since he is already over 30 years old and on the other side of his peak. If the Giants make him a competitive offer and he signs elsewhere, the front office can say they did their best to keep him around.

The best-case scenario would be for Bumgarner to sign the qualifying offer.

If he were to reject that offer, the max I would go would be a two-year deal with a mutual option for a third year.

A two-year, $30 million deal would still represent a raise over the $12 million he’s making this year without breaking the bank.

Other teams may very well be willing to offer more, but the San Francisco Giants should hold to that offer and be willing to move on if necessary.