Phillies trade rumor: Not among teams pursuing Madison Bumgarner
By John Town
The Phillies are definitely in need of upgrading their starting rotation, but they are reportedly not among the teams interested in Madison Bumgarner.
Jake Arrieta‘s bone spur will wear thin a Phillies rotation that already has struggled throughout 2019. They already could have stood to add a starter before the trade deadline; now their playoff hopes could very well hinge on picking up another starter.
The most prolific starter expected to be available at the trade deadline is Madison Bumgarner of the Giants. With San Francisco headed for another bottom-ten finish and Bumgarner’s contract expiring after the year, he’s almost certainly going to be on the move.
Ken Rosenthal of the Athletic [subscription required] reported Monday on the latest news regarding Bumgarner’s potential trade market. Rosenthal noted that there were four teams interested in acquiring Bumgarner; none of whom play in Philadelphia.
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Rosenthal stated that the Astros, Twins, Braves, and Brewers are the teams interested in picking up Bumgarner. The Astros, Braves, and Brewers, along with Philadelphia, are on Bumgarner’s no-trade list, which he compiled to give himself the most leverage when the trade deadline arrives.
Rosenthal goes on to explain why Philadelphia may be hesitant to push all the chips in on this season.
They entered the All-Star Break in third place in the NL East, 6.5 games behind the division-leading Braves. The Phils still hold the second wild-card spot but are not safe by any means with four teams within two games.
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The next few weeks will ultimately decide how Philadelphia proceeds. They play the Nationals and Dodgers right out of the break and face the Braves just before the deadline. If they fall even further behind in the division and lose their grip on the second wild card, it wouldn’t make sense to strip down an already barren farm system.
On the other hand, if Philadelphia closes the gap between now and the end of July, I think they may regain interest in Bumgarner. They were looking into him as early as April when they were leading the way in the division. Unless they saw something that turned them off on Bumgarner, they could rejoin the mix.
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Either way, the next few weeks will ultimately determine how aggressive Philadelphia is at the trade deadline. It wouldn’t make sense to sell the farm to go all in on a year where they may not even sniff the playoffs.