Madison Bumgarner is becoming a bigger and bigger bet for contending teams. Not only will it take trade compensation to land the 29-year-old lefty, but a recently-leaked no-trade list paints this picture: If a contender wants to land Bumgarner, compensation will likely be necessary. That, of course, could come in the form of something small and innocuous to make the veteran feel at home outside of San Francisco down the stretch of the season. Or, more likely, it could mean money in the form of a contract extension. With free agency looking more and more barren (Craig Kimbrel and Dallas Keuchel are still both out of work) by the year, Bumgarner may have no interest in heading out to the open market. For teams like the Yankees and Phillies, that could mean sizing up Bumgarner before he actually pitches an inning for their respective teams, and dropping millions of dollars to secure his services for the future. Could a two-year, $40M deal work? Would the soon-to-be 30-year-old want market value and years, possibly pushing a potential deal well over $100M? Buy Yankees tickets: StubHub, SeatGeek, PrimeSport, Ticketmaster In theory, Bumgarner made himself money by concocting a list of contending teams. Even if no long-term deal is agreed to, a Bumgarner trade will remove him from the list of free agents that require draft pick compensation. But unless the Yankees or Phillies are hell bent on Bumgarner now and in the future, it’s hard to imagine a huge deal happening when a trade commences. Bumgarner owns a 3.88 ERA across 55.2 innings this season for the Giants. Joe Giglio may be reached at jgiglio@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeGiglioSports. Find NJ.com on Facebook.<doc-sep>Earlier today, a no-trade list came out for Giants’ ace Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner, who has a partial no-trade clause, can block trades to eight teams, and he opted to block trades with eight contending teams, per Ken Rosenthal. Those teams are the Braves, Red Sox, Cubs, Astros, Brewers, Yankees, Phillies and Cardinals. Bumgarner is clearly taking the rumors that he will be traded this season seriously, and making plans accordingly. As Rosenthal notes, he chose teams that would be most likely to want to trade for him so that he can control a number of factors if a trade ends up happening. It’s a lot easier to narrow down the potential trade landing spots when so much of the league is either tanking or rebuilding, so this is a pretty standard move. And as Alex Pavlovic points out, he’s not the first Giant to form their list accordingly. Just because he has blocked these teams doesn’t mean he won’t accept a trade to one of them, but it does give him the power to approve a trade to any of them. So he can choose his destination, if there are multiple offers. He could also expect some form of compensation to waive his no-trade protection. Additionally, with Bumgarner in the last year of his contract, should the Giants part ways with him mid-season he would enter free agency without a qualifying offer and without costing another team a draft pick, something that has held up quite a number of players on the free agent market over the last couple of years. Most notably, the still-unsigned Dallas Keuchel, as Casey pointed out yesterday, who will likely be signed as soon as the draft pick for his qualifying offer expires on June 2nd. Should Bumgarner opt to test the free agency market next year, a trade mid-season would actually be in his best interest, as sad as it would be for many Giants fans to see him go.<doc-sep>When San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner submitted his no-trade list to the franchise, there was one important team allegedly left off the list: the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal reported on Twitter that the list the Giants' ace submitted included the Atlanta Braves, Boston Red Sox, Chicago Cubs, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Philadelphia Phillies and St. Louis Cardinals. "Bumgarner chose teams strategically; list comprised solely of contenders that might want to acquire him from #SFGiants, not teams he wants to avoid," Rosenthal wrote. A no-trade clause, which MadBum has in his contract with the Giants, allows the player to veto trades to certain teams. Players normally use it to decide specifically where they want to go, if traded, and leverage incentives in exchange for them to withhold their veto of team on their no-trade list. All of the teams Bumgarner included on the no-trade list are leading their division or within five games of the lead in their respective division. They're all "contenders," as Rosenthal put it. But the Dodgers, the notorious rival of the Giants, are currently the leaders of the National League West division; the Giants are at the bottom of the standings. Bumgarner wouldn't say whether or not he was in conversation with the Giants about a possible trade when asked in March. "I have too much respect for this organization to talk about contractual stuff publicly," he told reporters at the time. The Giants fan favorite has been with the franchise for the entirety of his 11-year career, but is available as a free agent in 2020.<doc-sep>
Eight teams need Madison Bumgarner’s consent before dealing for him this season, but some franchises need the ace southpaw more than others. As the San Francisco Giants fall further and further out of the race in the NL West, it becomes more and more likely that Madison Bumgarner is going to be dealt. It’s very likely he’ll be the best starting pitcher to change teams before this year’s trade deadline. Bumgarner made headlines this week with the news that he has a no-trade clause in his current contract that would require him to consent to moving to any one of eight teams. Ken Rosenthal reports that Bumgarner has the power to veto a deal to the Yankees, Red Sox, Braves, Cubs, Phillies, Astros, Brewers or Cardinals. That doesn’t mean the Giants can’t send him to one of those teams. It just means he must agree to any deal before it’s finalized. Don’t expect that clause to discourage the eight teams cited to decrease their interest in the ace lefty. Each of the contenders in question has plenty of motivation to add Bumgarner to their respective rotation. This piece ranks the eight based on their need and ability to make a deal for the Giants ace. 8. Milwaukee Brewers The Brewers are certainly in the thick of the NL Central race and they could use another starter to fortify their rotation. Unfortunately, Bumgarner probably isn’t enough to transform them into the favorites in the division. That, combined with his potential price tag, should be enough to force Milwaukee to look at other targets. It’s safe to expect the Brewers to check in with the Giants on what it might take to swing a deal for Bumgarner, but they’d face a difficult task in signing him to a contract extension. It would be a major shock to see Milwaukee give up multiple premium assets for a pitcher who would only be a rental. Add it all up and they’re the team on Bumgarner’s no-trade list that’s least likely to acquire him.