San Francisco Giants Interested in Extending Madison Bumgarner
By David Hill
One of the most dominant pitchers in baseball over the past few years, Madison Bumgarner has been a key part of the San Francisco Giants success. The time may be right for the team to look to extend their star pitcher.
There may be few contracts in baseball that are as big of a bargain as the one that the San Francisco Giants have with Madison Bumgarner. A four time All Star, and a perennial Cy Young award candidate, the 27 year old pitcher is locked up for another three years at a combined $35.5 Million, assuming his two options are picked up.
With that control, it would make sense if the Giants were not in any rush to lock in their ace to a long term extension. However, that may be exactly what they are looking to do, as team leadership has discussed locking Bumgarner in to another extension.
While the Giants do have that level of control, another extension could make a lot of sense. After all, Bumgarner is going to be about to enter his 30s when his current extension runs out. In theory, he will have a few more years of his prime left, before slipping closer to retirement. Even if he does not live up to his salary in every year of his contract, he should provide enough value during the first few years where that may not matter.
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Of course, there is a great deal of risk with any extension for a pitcher. With the proliferation of Tommy John surgery, and now Thoracic Outlet Syndrome, any long term deal is going to carry risk. By definition, throwing a baseball is going to put a lot of strain on the arm and shoulder.
That is definitely the case with Bumgarner, especially given his workload. In the past six years, Bumgarner has thrown 1276.1 innings, topping the 200 inning mark each season. With the postseason added in, Bumgarner has had another 80 innings put on his arm. In the days of pitch counts and a reliance upon the bullpen, that is a tremendous workload.
Yet, one can argue that Bumgarner is getting better each season. He posted a career best 2.74 ERA, 226.1 innings pitched, and 251 strikeouts. While he may not improve much off of those numbers, Bumgarner would be quite the target in free agency, someone who could command a contract that would rival that of Zack Greinke or David Price.
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Should the San Francisco Giants extend their ace, it will likely involve a hefty raise. Yet, if Madison Bumgarner hits the open market in three years, he could end up earning far more than the extension would cost. This is one gamble that the Giants will need to make.