In case you missed it, Buster Olney just published this on his ESPN blog:
Giants should consider a Bumgarner blockbuster.
Oh, Buster Olney. You wonderful concern troll. I, of course, am quite familiar with the form of your article. I am extremely comfortable sitting in this environment you’ve created that immediately dampens the mood after last night’s exciting win. Madison Bumgarner is still 5-6 weeks away and has no bearing on what happens with the current team, but by all means, let’s talk about trading him. Should the Giants even bother assisting him with his rehab? Why not trade him today?
The only real point Olney makes is that the Giants risk becoming the post-success era Phillies by holding onto Bumgarner. He goes through the prime players currently on the roster and notes that the Giants aren’t going to get anything or very little in return for any of them (which is silly), and they’d never trade Buster. So it has to be Bumgarner. He alone will be able to bring back enough to help the Giants turn into the skid, perhaps.
Olney also mentions that he spoke to “an evaluator” who said the Giants might be able to get “Maybe two top-tier guys and two second-tier guys”, which is the most obvious statement you could possibly make on the subject of “What could the Giants get in return for Madison Bumgarner?” And “an evaluator” is a scout, right? Another team’s scout? A local broadcaster or journalist, maybe?
The article does not explore the suggested idea that trading Bumgarner nets the Giants four prospects when, in order to turn things around quickly, they’d need quite a bit more talent than that. The only leg the article has to stand on is the sexy headline of The Giants Should Trade Bumgarner. If you really cared, Buster, you’d have been a bit more detailed. And creative! AND INTERESTING! Yes, we know the Giants will need to shake it up quite a bit if they have another bad season. A Bumgarner trade would have to be on the table.
I’m not going to spend much more time on this article, since it’s clear Olney didn’t spend much time on his, but I do thank him for the Content and for adding to The Discussion about what to do with the Giants this season and beyond; and, I do want to go off on some points he ignored that he could’ve addressed and made his idea stronger.
The only way the Giants trade Bumgarner is if the front office has been significantly “restructured”. I cannot fathom a scenario where Brian Sabean chooses to move Bumgarner at the deadline. I don’t see Larry Baer approving such a move because I don’t know how they sell that to the fans. This means that the only way such a move happens is there is no more Desk of Larry Baer and all the flip phones have been thrown out of AT&T Park and we never speak of Bobby Evans again. A new front office would be able to make the Bumgarner move and a new front office should be who gets to make the move.
Why would the Giants ownership group entrust a lengthy rebuild to the same guys who got them into the mess in the first place? It makes about as much sense as talking about trading Madison Bumgarner when we’re only three weeks into the season and he hasn’t thrown a pitch. But I thank you again, Buster Olney, for validating several years of my online persona.