Dodgers lose out on Gerrit Cole; Shifting focus to Bumgarner

The Dodgers have lost out on Gerrit Cole and are now rumored to be pursuing a former arch-nemesis, Madison Bumgarner according to Ken Rosenthal.

Gerrit Cole is officially a Yankee after agreeing to a whopping nine-year deal worth over $300 million dollars. Now the unthinkable is apparently happening as Ken Rosenthal is reporting that the Dodgers are pursuing former Giant Madison Bumgarner.  This could make an interesting off-season even more interesting.

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Madison Bumgarner as everyone knows has a reputation for being one of the best postseason pitchers of all-time.  The problem is that he hasn’t gotten back to the postseason since 2016 with the Giants shifting into a rebuilding team.  Lifetime he has a 2.11 ERA in the postseason and helped carry the Giants to three World Series titles.

Despite the fact that Bumgarner has been in the big leagues since 2009, Madison will be just thirty years old to start the 2020 season.  He is several years younger than Hyun-Jin Ryu with a much shorter injury history so that could be one reason why the Dodgers are interested in the former Giants’ ace instead of Ryu.

In 2019, Madison Bumgarner pitched to an ERA and FIP of 3.90 and averaged 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings pitched. MadBum also averaged just 1.8 walks per nine innings so his command was excellent and he is in line for a nice payday.  Most MLB experts are predicting MadBum to land a five-year deal worth close to $100 million dollars.

The Dodgers will likely try to land Anthony Rendon now but the Angels are also expected to pursue the All-Star third baseman.  Whether the Dodgers interest in Bumgarner is sincere or if it’s a negotiating tactic to get Scott Boras to lower the demands for Ryu, it remains to be seen.  The next two days of the Winter Meetings should be very interesting.