Bleeding Yankee Blue: BUMGARNER TO THE YANKEES?

Thursday, June 7, 2018

BUMGARNER TO THE YANKEES?

I wish. We can all dream but at this point that's all it is....a dream.

Photo: CBS Sports

Let's face it a lot would have to go right for us and even more would have to go wrong for the Giants to even think about giving Madison Bumgarner up. So where is this idea even coming from?

Alex Rodriguez had a suggestion during his FOX broadcast gig.....Bumgarner could be a Yankee. He's right, I think Bumgarner would look great in pinstripes. He would be a welcome addition to a challenged Yankee pitching especially with Jordan Montgomery out for Tommy John surgery.

Maybe Alex was just doing two jobs at once. That would be pretty genius. He talked baseball for FOX and was simultaneously giving Brian Cashman information in his role as special adviser. Adding a guy like Bumgarner could give the Yankees a huge advantage so if nothing else he sparked an interesting conversation.

Maybe not everyone is high on Bumgarner, but it would be nice to have another lefty besides CC Sabathia. He doesn't have a large pitching arsenal but he still has a good fastball and command. Could that be a little risky in hitter friendly Yankee stadium? Maybe, but he has the experience and knows how to pitch. He's a three time World Champion who knows what it's like to win and can perform under pressure. He's also cheap and actually underpaid. The Yankees like cheap right now he would be perfect for their plan to get under the luxury tax. He's worth more than his 12 million dollar salary, but is he worth the 3 or 4 better prospects it would take to get him?

He fits in with the Yankees needs, but he also fits in with the Giants current plans. Bumgarner spent over two months recovering from a broken pinkie finger so he just made his season debut this week and had a solid outing. The Yankees and Giants are in the same situation, a game and a half out of first and now that they have Bumgarner back they will be even more competitive. The only way the Giants are going to give him away is if the Giants implode and fall out of contention.

The Yankees are definitely looking for that starting pitcher, they always have been but the stakes just got higher. Could Bumgarner be a potential fit as the trade deadline gets closer? I wouldn't count on it, but Alex certainly have all of us thinking about it.

There aren't a lot of great available starters out there to chase after so I wonder who Cashman is going to get. He always works his magic so I can't wait to see what he pulls off.